Hunger Wars
by Jedi Carpet
Summary: An omnipotent being catches wind of the Hunger Games and pulls his most favourite contestants together for his entertainment. Multi-crossover from Hunger Games, Star Wars  main POVs , Star Trek, Legend of Zelda, Stargate SG-1, and Harry Potter.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I bought Hunger Games trilogy on a whim and raced through it over 4 days. It absolutely fascinated me. What could lend itself to chaos theory better than a situation of 24 people being forced to kill one another? It got me thinking and I came up with the idea of putting together the most unique blend of enemies I could think of from many sources of sci-fi/fantasy/whatevertheheckIlike and see how they react. I normally don't write in the way of posting before I have the whole thing done, but I want to see if anyone is interested in me continuing this...that said, things might change in earlier stuff to reflect future stuff (I'll inform differences as I go if necessary.) I have to admit that this will interfere with my other writing, so I have to keep this behind everything else I'm committed to. I kinda like the idea of having multiple projects, as if working on a master's degree while working full time and helping with a few charity organizations isn't enough :D If I don't get much of a response for it, I'm not going to bother continuing it. So you know, there are two different view points in the story which will be indicated by the style of writing. 1st person will be Katniss, 3rd person will be Jacen.

As always, I own nothing from Hunger Games, Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate SG-1, The Legend of Zelda, and/or Harry Potter. But I will be borrowing the following characters (consider this the DP):

The Good

Katniss Everdeen (1st Person POV), female human hunter from The Hunger Games

Gale Hawthorne, male human hunter from The Hunger Games

Jacen Solo (3rd Person POV), male human Jedi Master from Star Wars

Eriana Fostenton, female human Jedi Knight OC of my own creation in the Star Wars Universe (see profile for my other works)

Captain Jean-Luc Picard, male captain of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek: TNG

Doctor Beverly Crusher, ship's doctor of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek: TNG

Colonel Jack O'Neill, human male soldier from Stargate SG-1

Major Samantha Carter, human female soldier from Stargate SG-1

Link, Hylian male from The Legend of Zelda

Princess Zelda, Hylian female from The Legend of Zelda

Harry Potter, male human wizard from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Hermione Granger, female human witch from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Bad

Darth Vader, human Lord of the Sith from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Mara Jade, human assassin from Star Wars

Borg Queen, cyborg female monarch from Star Trek: First Contact

Tomalak, male Romulan from Star Trek: TNG

Anubis, half-ascended Gou'ald from Stargate SG-1

Osiris, female Gou'ald from Stargate SG-1

Ganondorf, male Gerudo, The Legend of Zelda

Twinrova, female witches of fire and ice, The Legend of Zelda

Bellatrix Lestrange, female witch, Harry Potter

Voldemort, male wizard, Harry Potter

The Ugly

Q, omnipotent being, Star Trek: TNG.

* * *

><p>I'm in the wrong bed. Last night I had curled up to sleep in my bed in the Victor Village of District 12 with Peeta's strong arms around me. He's still struggling with his conditioning and I know I shouldn't trust him, but few things keep the terrors from haunting me like he does. Few things keep the nightmares from my two Hunger Games away.<p>

But this morning I wake up in fear.

Where am I? How did I get here? I feel fear crawling up my throat trying to strangle me, so I push it down. To survive, I have to think, not feel.

I get up and look at my surroundings. I'm naked in a cold, badly-lit room with no visible door. My distorted face stares back at me in a blank television screen on one wall. I shiver, not really knowing if the coldness or my distorted face is what creeps me out the most.

My flesh prickles from the cold. I need to prepare.

I find some clothes in a closet and put them on. First undergarments, then a base layer of black wool under wear. Next a white sweater, a pair of white and black camouflage thermal pants, and finally a similarly camouflaged parka.

Looks like wherever I'm supposed to be going, it's going to be cold. At least I've got decent clothes.

As I'm warming up, I look back into the closet and see a belt with several pockets on it. I strap the belt around my waist over the parka and find a pair of white thermal gloves, a white toque, and a pair of sunglasses stuffed into some of the pockets. Hanging from a loop is a cylinder of metal that I've never seen before, so I ignore it for now. The last thing, sitting on the shelf in the closet, I barely notice. I pick it up and my heart fills with dread. My fears have been realized.

It is my Mockingjay pin. The one thing I was allowed to bring into the Hunger Games. It can mean only one thing.

"Katniss Everdeen," A voice calls to me from the television and I whip around to find a middle-aged man with black hair staring at me. "Welcome to the Trans-Everything Hunger Game. My name is Q, and I will be your coordinator for this game. I think you know how all this works."

I blink and find myself standing on a silver circle in the middle of the room that I had not noticed before. Like the first two Hunger Games I participated in, a glass tube encases me and I start rising upward. A trap door opens as I rise exposing me to a harsh winter's cold that hardens my heart into the Mockingjay warrior I had hoped I would never need to become again.

!#==$%*()

Jacen Solo could not figure out what was going on. He woke up naked in a small room and found various supplies in a closet that seemed to be designed for living on Hoth, except for an ornate bow and a quiver of arrows. When he reached out with the Force, he could detect twenty-three others in shared confusion, but only one he recognized – Eriana. The others either confused or scared him. At least two others were Force sensitive, but carried such dark auras that he was sure they were Dark Jedi. Some felt like normal humans, and some felt…magical.

"Jacen Solo," A voice said to Jacen, bringing his attention to the flat holopanel on the wall that had become active when he was not looking. A man with dark hair and an impish grin regarded him as if he were remembering a joke. "Welcome to the Trans-Everything Hunger Game."

"Thanks, but the name sucks."

"It's a work-in-progress," the man said. "My name is Q. I'm sure you're wondering what the Hunger Games are."

"Your insight is remarkable," Jacen complimented.

"The Hunger Games is a tournament of champions," Q said, ignoring the quip. "In this tournament you will face twenty three others in a battle to the death. It will test your resourcefulness, your cunning, and your prowess in combat. Not only must you survive against your fellow champions, you must survive the wild as well."

Jacen opened his mouth to ask a question about Eriana, but Q shook his finger.

"Not so fast, young Solo," Q grinned even more broadly than before. "Only one may survive. Just _one_. Now be a good lad and step into the silver circle in the middle of the floor and don't move until you hear the gong."

Seeing himself without much of a choice, Jacen walked over to the designated spot and looked back at Q as if to say "Now what?"

"May the odds be ever in your favour," Q said.

A glass tunnel enclosed Jacen and the platform he stood on slid upwards toward the arena of certain death.

!#==$%*()

The sunglasses help block the glare of the sun reflecting off the snow all around me. My eyes focus quickly and I survey my surroundings, trying to take in as much about my competitors and surroundings as I can. The first thing I notice is that we're in a forest clearing and everything is covered in snow. Unlike the first two games, there is no cornucopia full of supplies and weapons. Each of the competitors rise up with me and we're all waiting for the gong that tells us we can step off our steel circles without getting killed by the explosives in the ground.

I look to my left and gasp. Gale is staring back at me, his face telling me he is as surprised to see me as I am to see him. In his hand is an ornate wooden stick that looks as useless as a blade of grass in a fight. I examine my opponents but can glean very little insight on them except that the people on my left look terrified and the people on the right look terrifying. Among others, there is a woman with wires coming out the back of her head, a man who looks like a snake, and someone about twice my height with bright red hair. There's even a crazy blue and red woman that is floating on a broom!

I can't help but be glad that I'm nowhere near that giant of a man, but I know that every contestant in this game will want to kill me. I look to Gale and our eyes meet for the second time since he departed for his job in District 2, but our thoughts are the same.

Crap!

The gong echoes through the woods and we both sprint for the tree line.

!#==$%*()

The snowy forest would normally catch Jacen with a measure of interest, drawing upon his childhood curiosity to discover this new environment, but the warning from the mysterious Q and the presence of so many dark figures put him on edge. Immediately to his left, about three metres away, was a two-coloured woman hovering above her platform on a broom regarding him with a level of mischievous interest. He could sense her intentions clearly – she hungered to win this sadistic tournament. The giant man beside the hovering woman, seemed…angry. There was no other way to describe the red-haired man's presence, except that he was abounding in sheer power. This would be no easy competition.

To Jacen's right was Eriana, assessing the situation just as he was.

_Hey you,_ Eriana thought at him. _Notice anything?_

Jacen reached out with the Force and assessed the contestants. Everyone on his left felt angry, calculating, or domineering. Everyone on his right felt concerned, defensive, and…most importantly, attached.

_Everyone on this side came in with a friend,_ Jacen thought back. _And none seem ready to kill unless necessary._

_I'll try to gather them into a team,_ Eriana thought. _You distract those guys. _

Jacen went back to assessing the opponents on the left half of the field and his eyes froze on one figure that was staring right at him. He recognized the face, but the yellow and red eyes were impossible to ignore even from twenty metres away. The shock hit him like a rampaging Tauntaun.

Grandfather. Darth Vader. Before he had to wear the suit.

Jacen tore his eyes away from the ghost of his past and was even more surprised to see a younger version of his Aunt Mara staring at him just beside Vader. Unlike the Aunt Mara he knew, this one looked at him with pure malice knowing full well what he was. There was no doubt who this woman was.

The Emperor's Hand. One of Emperor Palpatine's most prized assassins.

Jacen shook his head and slipped the bow over his head across his body so it would not fall away. He brought his hands together, concentrating on an orb of energy coalescing between his palms. At the sound of the gong, he launched it toward the left side of the field and ran toward Eriana. The blast did what it was supposed to – it sent the large man and the witch off balance and away from their escape path.

"Come with us!" Jacen heard Eriana shout to the people that were on the platforms beside our own. Jacen ran toward Eriana and noticed that the men and women had paired up, as he suspected they would based on the feelings of familiarity he had sensed passing between them, but they were immediately suspicious of the other groups. On the far side of the field, the other three pairs had already disappeared into the woods.

"Look, we're not going to kill you," Jacen said. "We're Jedi. And we'll do a lot better if we stick together."

The group of six sprinted for the tree line and did not stop running until long after the sounds of combat at the clearing had diminished. As they ran, two cannon blasts rang out with mere seconds between them, but they kept going to put more distance between them and their adversaries.

"Could we stop for a moment?" The oldest man asked. "I'm afraid I haven't had the chance to keep up with my running in the last few years."

"Sit down, Jean-Luc," the redheaded woman said in a motherly tone and cleared a layer of snow off a fallen tree so they could both sit down. The other two were suspiciously regarding the others while careful to keep an eye both on their new allies and back toward the clearing.

"So what the hell is going on here?" The suspicious man asked. "Carter, any ideas? What're those cannon blasts we heard?"

The woman, Carter, shook her head. Her wide-eyed look echoed the confusion Jacen felt radiating off her. "No idea, sir. I went to bed at the SGC and woke up in a small room."

"Eriana, climb that tree and keep an eye out for anyone," Jacen suggested, pointing at a tree that looked sturdy enough to support her. She passed him the bow and arrows that she had been wearing, a much more complicated and technologically advanced version to the one Jacen had been given, and jumped high into the tree to looks of surprise from their new allies.

"I'm Jacen Solo," Jacen introduced himself. "I'm a Jedi Master, a protector of the peace and justice. Eriana Fostenon is my apprentice. We can sense none of you want to harm anyone and are just as much victims of this convoluted game as we are, so we thought an alliance was in order."

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, U.S. Air Force," the one man introduced himself.

"Major Samantha Carter, U.S. Air Force," the woman beside him said. "We're explorers from Earth."

"U.S. Air Force?" The older man sitting on the tree asked. "That division has not existed in over two hundred years. I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise, and my ship's doctor, Commander Beverly Crusher. We're also from Earth."

Jacen wracked his brain. "I've never heard of Earth, the Federation or the U.S. Air Force before. I suspect we're not from the same galaxy."

"Or the same time," Carter said. "That Q guy did say…"

"Q?" Picard demanded. "I _knew_ he had to be behind this!"

"Mon Cap-e-tan!" With a flash of light, the man who had appeared on Jacen's holodisplay was standing among them. "So good of you to recognize my work."

"Q, what is the meaning of this?" Picard demanded. "What sick game have you devised now? Haven't you tested humanity enough?"

"I cannot take all the credit," Q said indifferently. "Your kind came up with this game, my dear captain. I got bored with all your constant ramblings of philosophy and history and blah blah blah and I finally decided to start exploring alternate universes. And look what I found!"

Q gestured around, grinning like a child in a candy factory.

"A war-torn version of your Earth came up with this idea of having these silly Hunger Games to entertain the rich at the expense of the poor. I thought, why not bring together all the most interesting people I could find and see how my own Hunger Game would turn out?"

"Come up with a better name yet?" Jacen asked.

"Not in any tongue you would understand, boy," Q said in a thoroughly condescending voice that Jacen could hardly feel insulted by. "But, enough about me, get back to your fun. Just remember: only one can survive."

With a flash of light, the impish man disappeared.

"Q!" Picard shouted, but it was too late.

"Who is that guy?" Jacen asked.

"An omnipotent being that craves attention," Picard said miserably. "He preys upon sentient beings for his own entertainment."

"We should find some food," O'Neill said. "Something tells me this game will continue for a while."

"We can melt snow for water," Carter said. "If we can start a fire, but that might give our position away."

"No problem," Jacen said and held out his hand. He sped up the air molecules above his hand until a bright yellow flame appeared, electing a gasp of surprise from both Carter and Crusher.

"How?" Carter asked, thoroughly interested in the mysterious fire.

"You can write a thesis on him later, Major," O'Neill said. "Something tells me the other side of the field isn't going to want to get all warm and cuddly with us. What do we have for weapons?"

Picard pulled a broadsword and shield off his back and held them in front of him. The long, well-balanced blade had an ornate handle and an engraved blade showing a trio of triangles inside a larger triangle, which also appeared on the blue and silver shield. Doctor Crusher extracted a thin silver rapier from a scabbard on her belt, and Jacen indicated the two bows and two quivers full of arrows. It was not until Samantha Carter pulled a metal cylinder from her belt that Jacen recognized any weapons.

"Eriana, we found your lightsaber!" Jacen called. "I wonder if this Q guy spread our weapons among us to get us to kill each other for our natural weapons."

"Anyone bring their drums?" O'Neill asked sarcastically, holding up a beautifully carved stick.

"It must be a weapon for someone," Picard said. "Does anyone feel comfortable with a sword? I'd much prefer a rapier myself."

"I'll take the sword," O'Neill offered. "Carter, you may as well give that lightsaber thing to the tree child and take her bow."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm not bad with a bow," Crusher said. "I took an archery class in med school for extra credit."

"I guess that leaves me with the stick," Jacen said. "I don't really mind, though. I've been trying to do without weapons lately."

They traded weapons according to their preferences, and Jacen received the stick last. A powerful rush of energy travelled up his arm upon touching it and left him momentarily breathless.

"Did ya stick your finger in an electrical socket?" O'Neill asked with more annoyance than concern in his voice.

"No, but this thing's powerful," Jacen said. "Some sort of conduit for internal power. Interesting."

Eriana chose that moment to drop out of the tree.

"Something's coming this way. We'd better move."

!#==$%*()

Gale and I tear into the woods without even bothering to look back. The last thing I can remember hearing were the cries of two pathetic sounding people calling for each other. It didn't matter. They're probably dead if they wasted time looking for a hug.

As we run we see two other pairs running not far away but in the same direction. A blond-haired man with a green hat instead of the provided toque and the woman with long auburn hair are running side-by-side. The man seems intent to protect her based on the way he watches her and the world around him. Two more are crashing through the woods not far away, but none of them attempt to harm us. Or even seem to care we're there.

"Alliance," I say to Gale and direct him toward the green capped man. As we get closer, the green hat guy skids to a halt and tells the woman to keep going.

"Wait," I say, holding my hands up. "We won't hurt you. We could be allies."

"How can I trust you?" the man asks. "We're all in the game together."

"Do you know any of the guys on the other side of the field?" I ask in return. A flicker of recognition appears on his face. "Those guys look like the ones to avoid to me."

"You have that correct," the woman says cautiously. "Ganondorf and Twinrova would not hesitate to kill us. But we still have no reason to trust you."

"We have a better chance of surviving together," Gale said. "Maybe we can beat this thing as a group and force a safe ending for all of us."

We both know Gale's words are a lie. Only two hunger games have ever ended with more than one survivor, and both were due to cheating. Something tells me this Q guy won't be easy to fool, but our potential allies don't need to know that.

A branch breaks and the man with the green cap spins around.

"I couldn't help but notice you're not fighting," a boy, not much older than me, wearing glasses said. His accent reminds me of the snotty voices of the people in the Capitol, but the dirt and blood on his face is far from the artistic tattoos and makeup that people of the Capitol used to wear. The girl looks similarly disheveled and just as bewildered. "I don't suppose any of you know what's going on?"

I decide these people are not that big a threat to us and gesture for them to keep walking in the direction we were headed. As we walk, I callously explain what the Hunger Games are. When I get to the part about us all, eventually, facing the decision about killing the person we care about in order to escape, the two Capitols and the girl with long hair look at their partners with a mixture of fear and concern for the other's safety. Gale and the man in the green cap both react the same way, with looks of resolve that tell me they're willing to give up their lives to save their friend.

I suddenly have little to fear about the group I've collected. Nobody looks at each other with even a hint of desire to kill anyone. Their faces echo the same haunted look mine does every time I look in a mirror – the face of someone who has seen far too much death.

"I'm Katniss Everdeen. I've been through two of these. If there's a way we can all survive, we will find it."

Everyone looks at me with hope and a heavy mixture of doubt. Maybe even a pinch of fear. And they should.

I grab the cylinder on my belt and hold it up.

"Anyone know what this is?"

The blank looks on everyone's faces answer my question.

Gale holds up the stick I saw him with earlier. I see it is not just any stick – it was carefully carved so it even has a handle.

"That's my wand!" the boy in glasses says. He holds up a grey gun of some sort with two handles on it. "I'll trade you."

Gale shrugs and trades with the boy.

"We don't really know what to do with these," the man in green tells us, holding up some black gun by the middle. The other woman does likewise and also pulls a crunched Z-shaped device out of a hip holster.

"That's a P-90 sub machine gun," the bushy haired girl tells us in a very matter-of-fact voice, indicating the weapon held by the man with the green hat. "It's pretty loud, so if we're trying to avoid detection you shouldn't use it."

She seems to detect her friend's blank stare and continues. "What? I picked up a guide on Muggle weapons one summer when You-Know-Who was gaining power thinking we might be able to use them on him. But I don't recognize the other one. "

"Who?" I ask. You-Know-Who…what a stupid name for someone when nobody knows who You-Know-Who is.

"Voldemort," the boy replies, rolling his eyes. "I thought I had killed him about five minutes before I ended up in this game, but he was across the clearing from us. He's the one that looks like a snake."

"Speaking of names, what're yours?" I ask. "He's Gale. We're both from District Twelve."

"I'm Harry, this is Hermione," the boy with the glasses says. "We're from England."

"I am Princess Zelda, and this is Link. I'm sorry, Hero, but I'm afraid I don't know your full name."

"It doesn't matter," Link replies. "We're from Hyrule."

"You mentioned some enemies you recognized?"

"Yes, Ganondorf. He is the holder of the Triforce of Power," Zelda explains in a soft but powerful voice, "He's the extremely tall, angry man, and Twinrova is two of his minions. Two witches that fight with fire and ice and can merge into one body, which is her current form of the red and blue witch. Ganondorf is…a frightfully powerful being bent on controlling the unified Triforce."

"And I thought I killed him," Link continues. I'm half listening, but also playing with the metal cylinder to figure out its purpose. "Drove the Master Sword right into his black heart and left him to fester for three days. _Nobody_ should be able to survive that."

Two enemies that my new allies thought were dead? And the two Capitols didn't seem like Capitols at all, not to mention that Princess Zelda and Link were obviously from out of this world. This world...Did we even come from the same one? Are we still on Earth? I've never even heard of England or Hyrule before.

"Voldemort is the most powerful dark wizard of our age," Harry says, breaking the silence. "If his wand was given to someone else, like ours were, he'll be a pushover. But with a wand he'll be nearly unstoppable. I suggest, if I'm killed, you destroy my wand before letting him get it."

"We need to find my wand, too," Hermione says anxiously, but she looks more distressed at the thought of her friend dying. "It won't respond very well to him, but he'll still be more dangerous with it than without it."

"Who's the chick who looks like a cuccoo flew into her head?" Link asks.

"Bellatrix Lestrange." Hermione practically spits the name out. "She's as dark and demented as they come, but not as powerful as Voldemort."

A snap-hiss sends a stream of green light out of the cylinder with the push of the biggest button and I push it away in shock. Before it is even out of my hand the blade disappears, and everyone has jumped back about two metres from me.

"Sorry!"

"Was that a sword?" Link asks, suddenly interested in the cylinder. "May I?"

I pick up the cylinder carefully and toss it to him, which he catches deftly in his left hand. He presses the biggest button and a metre-long glowing green blade appears. He experiments by chopping into a small tree, but the blade cuts through it like nothing is there and the tree crashes to the ground. He deactivates it and tosses me the "P-90" followed by the belt with the holster, odd gun and some long yellow plastic clips for the P-90 attached.

"I much prefer a sword, thanks," Link says.

"No problem," I reply. "Let's keep moving and find some food."

!#==$%*()

Team Military, as Jacen started calling his team of six, trudged through the frozen, snowy woods seeking shelter and food for hours as the sunlight slowly faded. Without any sort of container to carry water in, every ball of snow that someone wanted to drink had to be melted by either Jacen or Eriana and fed directly into someone's mouth. Thankfully Carter could shoot because she scored a couple of small furry creatures that O'Neill was able to skin using the rather unwieldy but razor sharp broadsword. He was able to chop the meat into chunks that Jacen cooked using the Force, and they all ate what O'Neill called "Bugs Bunny Delight." It was not much, but it kept their energy up.

The two oldest team members, Picard and Crusher, were slowing the team down. Between his relative lack of fitness compared to two career military personnel and two Jedi, and her inability to shoot anything except the ground around any sort of potential meal, everyone's patience began to wear thin.

However, Jacen knew that they were merely the scapegoats of everyone's frustration.

Jacen soon realized that everyone's frustration with them was really aimed at the entire situation they were in and focused his efforts on covering their tracks with the Force to abate his frustrations.

The forest they travelled through was dense enough to block enough light from coming through to affect visibility past fifty metres and snow-covered enough to slow their progress. If it were not for the situation they were in, it might be a beautiful walk through the woods with fluffy snowflakes falling around them. The outfits they wore kept them plenty warm, easily regulating their body temperatures through their advanced properties.

So far there had been no sign of pursuit since Eriana had spotted the floating witch flying overhead, nor the mysteriously ominous cannon blasts they had heard before. As they walked they discussed the people that had been on the opposite side of the field from them. Picard and Crusher spoke about a Romulan named Tomalak and a Borg Queen. Apparently the biggest threat was that the Borg Queen would inject someone with nanites and turn them into a half-mechanical drone to do her bidding. Friend and enemy alike would become mindless slaves and would be used against her enemies.

"If your friend is infected with nanites," Picard said in an ominous voice. "Don't hesitate to kill them. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favour."

Carter took over the explanation from O'Neill about a being called Anubis, a half ascended parasitic worm that retook human form. He could apparently do things that sounded a lot to Jacen like using the Force. The other was another parasite in a human host called Osiris. Nobody else seemed to recognize the other contestants.

Jacen did not know how to describe the presence of Darth Vader and Mara, so he figured he would describe them as he felt them for the few moments he reached out before the gong. He described Darth Vader as an agent of darkness, a powerful Jedi lost in dark intentions. Mara he described as an assassin for Darth Vader's master. It was not a rosy picture to paint, but he knew he could not let his personal feelings get in the way of this deadly game.

Jacen gave some insight into what he sensed about the other combatants, but it did not take long for him to run out of things to say. Occasionally they stopped to try catching some food, but they mostly kept up their pace through the woods.

While Jack and Carter quietly muttered to each other at the front of the group, and Picard and Crusher did likewise as they followed, Jacen occupied his time silently trying to figure out the strange stick that Jack had given him while Eriana walked backward beside him watching their rear. Using the Force he could focus his efforts through it, but it did nothing to enhance or better focus his command of the Force. Everything he could sense about it told him that he was missing something, but what surprised him most was that the stick exhibited an emotion. If he could put a name to it, it would be loneliness.

A crashing sound behind the group was the first indication that something was wrong. Jacen's danger sense flared up and he barely side-stepped out of the way to avoid a chunk of ice about the size of a Wookiee's fist falling from the sky.

"Run!"

Jacen and Eriana took off and passed the others without waiting to see if they were running. Balls of ice tore through the woods wrecking tree branches and smashing into the ground with enough force to spray dirt at the contestants. They sprinted through the forest trying to use the trees as a layer of protection, but stopped bothering after the fourth or fifth tree got blasted to splinters in their path.

"Beverly!"

Jacen glanced over his shoulder and saw Jack pulling the older man along. On the ground several metres back was Beverly's body, obviously pummeled to death by the ice.

"Keep moving, gramps!" Jack shouted over a cannon blast. "She's gone."

Jacen sprinted back past the others and skidded to a halt in front of the battered body. He could barely look at the fatal injuries, so he focused on removing the bow and arrows from her body. A chunk of ice nearly hit his leg, so he took off sprinting again with the weapons. With the Force lending him speed, he easily overtook the others and joined Eriana at the front.

"We need to find shelter," Eriana yelled over the sound of a tree exploding from a near impact.

The Force gave Jacen a hint, and he sharply changed paths. A minute later he saw it – a crevice in the ground.

"Over here!" Jacen shouted over the icy destruction around them. He stood next to the crevice and put his hands in the air to construct a telekinetic shield against the onslaught of rampaging ice balls. The rest of the team joined him under his dome of protection.

"Eriana, lead the way," Jacen shouted. "I'll hold the ice off."

Eriana hopped into the crevice and eased her way down.

"Plenty of room; get down here!"

Picard followed her and Carter went next.

"Couldn't have done that sooner?" Jack asked.

"I can't hold this much longer," Jacen grunted. The impacts on the shield were tiring him and it seemed the longer he stood there, the more concentrated the bombardment became. "Take the bow and arrows get down there!"

Jack removed the weapons from over Jacen's shoulder and disappeared into the crevice. Jacen gave him a count to five before he dropped the shield and dove in, slamming into Jack's back.

"Watch it!" Jack said. "Old men crawling here."

"Sorry, there's a bit of a snow storm out there," Jacen replied. A chunk of ice exploded against the rock a foot away from his head, showering him with shards of ice.

"I thought Canada was bad," Jack muttered. "At least the people are nicer."

Eriana led the group deeper into the crevice with her lightsaber as a beacon to guide them until there was enough room for four of them to stand side by side, leaving Jacen lying across a rock shelf a bit higher up from the rest of them.

"This is cosy," Jack smiled at Carter.

"Yes, sir," Carter replied, glancing at Picard beside her and back to Jack. "Very cosy, sir."

"It sounds like the storm is slowing down out there," Jacen said. "But I think we'll be best off sleeping here tonight. I'd guess we're about half an hour from dark, anyway."

"Colonel, may I ask what year you believe it to be?" Jean-Luc asked in his odd accent.

_Odd,_ Jacen thought. _His friend just died. He doesn't even sound sad._

"2005," Jack replied. "You?"

"2375," Picard responded.

They laid in silence, absorbing the fact that more than three hundred years separated them.

"35," Jacen said, trying to make conversation, but the silence only became more uncomfortable. "In my galaxy, what's known as the Battle of Yavin was the start of a new calendar. It was the start of what most historians believe was the beginning of the end of Emperor Palpatine's rule."

"Nice guy?" Jack asked, though his tone sounded quite sarcastic.

"He killed off almost every Jedi and turned my grandfather against his wife and best friend," Jacen said coldly. "And that was just the start of his reign of terror."

An awkward silence hung between the allies as they sat quietly for a few moments, so Jacen pulled the stick out of his pocket and started examining it in the Force again.

"So Johnny," Jack said. "What's with the English accent and the French name?"

Carter shook her head softly and sighed.

"I grew up in France, but my teachers were from England, as is with most Europeans."

"Parle bien?" Jack asked.

"Meillieur que toi."

"Touché."

Jacen squinted down the crevice and considered his options as he tapped the stick against his left hand. Not able to see very far, what he really needed was more _light_.

A brilliant beam of light appeared from the end of the stick and shocked Jacen enough that he almost dropped the stick. "Shut that thing off, will ya?" Jack hissed.

He pointed the beam away from his allies when he realized it was pointing in their faces.

_Dark, _Jacen thought, and the light disappeared.

"What was that?" Carter asked. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know," Jacen said looking at the stick as if it had just grown teeth and wanted to bite him. "I was thinking about how dark it was and what we needed, and it did…that!"

"Can you do somewhere between _that_ and…_not that_?" Jack demanded.

Jacen regarded the stick and pointed it down. Trying to visualize a small amount of ambient light without creating a beacon, he pushed his thoughts into the stick.

_A little bit of light_.

The end of the stick started to glow again.

"Better?"

"Much."

"It sounds like the storm has passed. I'm going to head back up and keep watch while you guys sleep."

"I'll join you for a minute," Eriana said.

"Here, take this with you," Jack said, handing the bow and quiver to Jacen.

Jacen worked his way back out of the crevice and Eriana shimmied her way up and over their allies.

Back on the surface, Jacen surveyed the damage done by the large balls of ice. If nothing else, their tracks were well covered.

"Do you want to switch shifts in the middle of the night?" Eriana asked when she finally arrived at the surface a few minute after him.

"You go ahead," Jacen said. "I'll watch tonight and we'll switch tomorrow. I figure the two of us can sustain ourselves with the Force for several days straight, but if we take turns sleeping each night they can get some good rest so we can keep moving during the daylight."

Eriana nodded and caught Jacen's eye.

"Do you sense it?"

Jacen nodded and pointed into the woods. "About two kilometres that way. I can sense the person holding it is someone with…I'm having a hard time placing it. I want to say…great courage, as odd as that sounds."

"What do you think about the other team?"

"They seem like more good guys," Jacen said. "I don't think they noticed my probing, and I haven't sensed anyone else intruding yet. I say we try to work our way toward them and team up. Eleven of us will be stronger than five, and maybe we'll all get our weapons back."

"Agreed," Eriana said. "What about our friends downstairs?"

"They're suspicious, for sure," Jacen said. "But who wouldn't be in this situation? They probably think you'll sneak back and try to kill them in their sleep. Especially Jack. He doesn't seem like the type to trust easily."

"What's with Picard? His friend gets killed and he doesn't shed a tear."

"I don't know," Jacen said. "Something feels _off_ about him. I can't quite place it."

"None of them are overly excited about this," Eriana said. "I get the sense that Jack and Sam would be willing to die for the other. Jacen, what if it comes down to the two of us?"

Silence hung between them as they both mulled over the question neither wanted to answer.

"You better get some sleep. I'll wake you if any of the bad guys approach," Jacen said. "For now, I'll use a Fallanasi technique to keep us hidden. Get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day."

!#==$%*()

Giving the wand to Harry was a great idea. The boy, who is actually a year older than me, can do some pretty amazing stuff with it. He creates water bottles for us out of thin air and fills them with clean water when we run out. While he insisted that he could not create food because of some seventh law of magic, having clean water and something to store it in helps us keep going.

After hours of walking we still do not find any food, but at least having water helps us keep going without tiring too much. One cannon blast echoed through the woods, indicating a death, but we plough on. The more we walk, the darker it becomes and I finally decide we need to get some sleep.

"Let's make camp here," I say. "I figure the best plan would be to tie ourselves into the foliage of the trees to get some sleep. It won't be comfortable, but we'll be safer than on the ground.

"Can you make some sleeping bags and some rope?" I ask Harry. "Dark green would be best to blend into the trees."

He flicks his wand and my wish is granted – six sleeping bags and coils of rope appear in the clearing between us.

I help Zelda find a tree and guide her into it as she appears to have the least experience living in the woods. Pretty obvious given that she still hasn't had the sense to either cut off or tie up her hair. Really, what girl would leave butt-length hair down in a freaking _forest_? Maybe she'll let me braid it later when she sees how out of the way my hair is.

When Zelda is about twenty feet off the ground and safely stowed in her sleeping bag between two tree branches, I tie the rope around her with a knot that will slip loose if she pulls it, but will tighten if she falls.

Link and Gale are already stowing themselves away when I climb down, so I help Hermione into her own tree, and then Harry tells me to secure myself when I finish. He had been covering our tracks with magic, making our footprints disappear, and he tells me that he'll erase our footsteps before getting into his own tree.

I make my way up into an old tree and settle in for the night, tying myself into position between two large branches. I watch Harry as he climbs into his tree, waves his wand, and makes his way up. After a few moments of moving around, Harry settles in and I pull the hood of the sleeping bag over my head.

Somewhere in the middle of the night my over-sensitive left ear alerts me to a branch cracking below me. I carefully open my eyes, careful not to move a muscle, and look at the ground below where three figures are walking through. One holds up a fist and they stop. A blade of purple light appears in her other hand and a giant blade is held up by another figure. The one with the giant sword turns around and looks directly at me with yellow eyes that practically glow in the dark.

A shiver runs down my spine. The other two, a woman with the light sword and the man who looks like a snake also stare at me. I watch as their eyes dart around the clearing at exactly the spots where we are hiding.

Link is the first of us who reacts. I watch as he drops from his tree in a stream of green light, light sword activated. Even from twenty feet up I can see a look of determination on his face that scares me more than the three bad guys.

"This one's mine," the woman says and moves in to engage Link, their glowing swords making dazzling shapes in the night.

Link gives me the distraction the rest of us needed. I wiggle my way out of my sleeping bag and bring my P-90 to my shoulder. I squeeze the trigger and a burst of bullets flash out at the guy with the sword, but he flicks his blade in front of him like a shield.

Crap. Did he _really_ just do that?

I squeeze the trigger again, moving the gun wildly across his body and his sword blocks every bullet that I fire. Harry and snake man, a.k.a. Voldemort, are shooting at each other with wands and Hermione is taking shots at Voldemort with her rifle which are bouncing off a giant metal shield. When I run out of bullets in the clip, my enemy rushes forward and takes a single swipe through the tree. I feel the tree shift and drop a bit. I know exactly what is next.

Branches around me start snapping against other tree branches as my ride to the ground gathers momentum. I throw the P-90 aside and pull the other weapon from my belt, hoping I can figure it out before that huge blade cuts me in half. Squeezing a soft spot by the index finger makes the top of the gun pop up, and squeezing it again sends a bolt of energy at the swordsman. I start running at him down the length of the tree, trying to get as close to the base as possible before it hits the ground, and one of my shots gets past his guard. He staggers backward as the tree hits the ground and bounces, sending me tumbling through the air.

I don't remember hitting the ground, but my shoulder hurts like hell and my mouth is full of snow and dirt. Somewhere in that mess I can also taste blood. While trying to make sense of what just happened I can hear weird humming and clashing noises, shouts in some funny language, and the blasts of a rifle.

Amid the pain, some tiny part of me is yelling "GET UP!" but all I can do is roll over half way onto my good shoulder and spit out the crap in my mouth.

I almost wish the fall from the tree killed me. The guy with the giant sword shook off whatever I hit him with and is coming at me.

I can't believe how yellow his eyes are.

!#==$%*()

Sitting high in a tree, Jacen meditated on keeping his presence in the Force as small as possible. Over time he had learned some of the most interesting uses of the Force can be done at the microscopic and even atomic levels of matter, and the only way to explore them is through reducing one's presence in the Force. Toxins can be neutralized, metals and crystals strengthened or weakened, but by far the most useful part of making oneself small is that it is nearly impossible for another Force user to detect one's presence.

If Jacen could describe his and Eriana's skills relative to each other, he was the master of the Force, and she was the master of the sword. She readily admits that his control over the Force greatly overshadows her own, although he will argue that she has learned more from him than some Jedi Masters in the Jedi Order know. He knew she did not believe him when he told her she would be shocked to discover what some of the Jedi Masters would really be like, but she would find out soon enough when they arrived at Ossus. Yoda had just promoted him to Jedi Master and requested he return to Luke not an hour before he woke up in the dark room earlier this morning.

A branch cracked below and the only movement Jacen made was to open his eyes. They darted around, enhanced with the Force to see in the dark, until they settled on a wolf below. No, not one wolf. Seven. A hunting pack looking for dinner, sniffing around the woods. They must have detected the scent of some delicious humans and decided to investigate.

Jacen silently extracted an arrow from his quiver and placed the notch on the string. He took the bow in his left hand and pulled back with his right, letting the Force guide his aim. He picked the smallest wolf, deciding not to be greedy for food, and aimed for the back of its neck.

_I'm sorry, friend_. Jacen thought and released the arrow.

The wolf dropped with a tiny yelp and the other wolves sniffed around the body of their fallen friend. Jacen found the Alpha wolf and pushed a thought into its head that there was food over _there_, somewhere in the opposite direction of the other team he and Eriana had identified as "good guys." The wolf's head shot up in the direction Jacen had indicated and the entire pack ran off in search of the meal, leaving Jacen to collect his team's breakfast.

!#==$%*()

With the swordsman approaching me I know I have mere seconds before I'm dead. That blade just cut through a half-metre thick tree without hesitation. What am I compared to that? I shift over to point the gun at him, but a flick of his wrist sends it out of my hand. I feel a fist tightening around my neck as I'm lifted into the air, but I cannot pry the invisible hands away.

Oddly enough, I can't even look at the man choking the life out of me. Behind him I see Harry and Hermione attacking Voldemort, and Link hammering at the woman. I'm truly captivated at the way he is beating her away from where Zelda is hiding with the glowing green sword. So captivated that I almost forget that my life is fading away.

"Tell me what you know of the other Jedi," my attacker demands. With every word the invisible hand squeezes tighter making it impossible to breathe. Forget answering his question. If I even know what to say, I couldn't.

"Tell me!"

I must be hallucinating. No oxygen getting to my head. Fire. Giant blasts of fire raining down from where Zelda was sleeping. One ball of fire slams into the back of my attacker, breaking his concentration and I fall to the ground. Ouch. That hurt. But I can breathe again, so I suck back the best tasting air of my life by the lungful.

I know I'm supposed to be the girl on fire, but I'm glad someone else is for a change. My attacker pulls his coat off before he gets burned and turns around to witness a massive bombardment of fire raining down on his allies, and all three decide to abandon their attack and run off. Fire continues to follow them as they retreat.

I don't know how long I lay there slumped on my back and staring at the sky, but Harry eventually decides to come over and help me up. Hermione hands me the laser gun and my P-90, which I replace on my outfit.

"Is everyone okay?"

"I think so," Harry replies, but I hear the hesitation in his voice. We rejoin the others and it takes me a few seconds to realize why Harry hesitated.

"Where's Gale?"

"We don't know," Zelda replies in her maddeningly calm voice. "Link found his sleeping bag tied up in the tree. There's no sign of him."

The helpless despair I felt when Gale was captured by Peacekeepers wells up in my chest, threatening to choke me, but I swallow and try to force it back down, steeling my nerves.

"He probably went to find some food."

Who am I kidding? None of them. They're looking at me skeptically. I didn't even convince _myself_.

"We can't stay here," Link tells us. "They'll plan another attack on us. We need to move."

I set up a marker under Gale's tree to indicate the direction we're setting off before we leave. Even though I hold on to hope that I'll see him again, this nagging feeling deep in my chest tells me something is very wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'll keep writing for now...we'll see how this goes. Please let me know if you enjoy it :) I did a small update to chapter 1, but it's little stuff that doesn't have much bearing on anything really. Continuity and minor grammar stuff.

A/N (May 14): Updated the grammar/duplications. What had happened was tracking was on Word and when you cut/paste it Word stupidly thinks that you want the jibberish you deleted. Maybe I'll throw Word in as a tribute next story... :P

* * *

><p>Jacen's team awoke to the smell of freshly cooked wolf filling their noses and eagerly exited the crevice to a hearty meal of lean meat and melted snowball. The bright sun provided ample light even below the tree canopy and they enjoyed their breakfast served on platters of tree bark while examining the forest around them.<p>

Carter and Picard quietly sat off to the side while Eriana, Jacen and Jack discussed their plan for the day.

"We should try to meet up with the other group," Jacen suggested. "They'll have our weapons, and together we'll be stronger."

"What if they decide to take us out?" Jack asked and pointed a thumb at the sword on his back. "If they have our guns, we won't stand a chance with these."

"Don't forget, I have this." Jacen held up the magical stick and activated the light. So far, that was all he had figured out to do with it.

"You're as bad as the Nox," Jack muttered. "Carter, get over here."

"I don't think it makes sense to attack anyone right now," Eriana said. "We don't know their strength or positions."

"Sounds like we need to do some recon," Jack said. "Pick our best pair of scouts and see if we can find any enemy camps. We'll take up a strategic position and hit them at night when they don't expect it. Carter! I said get over here."

Jacen looked over at Carter and Picard and see them staring at each other with rapt attention. Carter shook her head and they both looked over at the other three allies.

"Sorry, sir!" Carter said. She collected her bow and another chunk of wolf before joining the group. Picard followed her, likewise chewing on some wolf.

"It will be difficult to find a weakness in the Borg if we do not defeat them quickly," Picard said as if he was part of the conversation from the start. "We should make them a priority to eliminate."

"I don't know what we could use against Anubis, sir," Carter said. "Osiris could be taken down by any weapon, but Anubis isn't corporeal."

"He looked human, black face aside," Jacen said.

"It's a false body so he can interact with his environment," Carter explained. "His entire inside is the half-ascended energy that's left from his corporeal existence as a Goa'uld with a human host."

"Perhaps the Borg could prove useful after all," Picard mused. "They may have some means of trapping his energy so it is more destructible."

"It's worth a shot," Carter agreed. "But how do we get them to cooperate with us?"

"Leave 'em alone," Jack said. "Let 'em kill each other off."

"I can control electricity," Jacen suggested. He created a nexus of electrical shocks across his fingers to emphasise his point. "Maybe I can neutralize his energy."

"It'd be risky," Carter said. "He's very powerful."

"What about the other group?" Picard asked. "Strength in numbers may help us."

"Strength in numbers," Carter said, nodding in agreement. She scratched idly at a small wound on the back of her hand.

Jack regarded Carter for a moment with a funny look and shook his head.

"So much for the chain of command," Jack said. "Carter, did I ever tell you what the chain of command is?"

"No, sir," Carter said.

"It's the chain he goes and gets to beat you with when you misbehave," Jacen said getting to his feet and smirking at Jack. "Saw it in a holovid once. The other team is that way. Follow me."

"Carter," said Jack.

"Yes sir, shall I go find that chain for you?"

"Naw," he looked at her again and shook his head, "but you'd better put a bandage on that scratch. It looks nasty."

!#$%^&*(

Gale is on the top of my mind threatening to drive me crazy the farther we walk. I lost track of the number of times I thought I had lost Peeta during the Hunger Games, and now I'm going through the same thing with Gale. It doesn't help that I'm hungry as hell and haven't had anything to eat for almost two days. And Hermione is doing nothing but nitpicking everything Harry does even though he's doing nothing wrong. And the left side of my face got scratched up when I fell off the tree, so now it's itchy as hell and I keep bleeding on my coat!

As if things weren't bad enough, so far we've located one small, solitary squirrel that Hermione blasted into oblivion with her rifle. I expect to find no meat as I examine the blast crater, but I can't even find the tail!

"No more hunting for you," I say to Hermione.

"It'd be a lot easier with my wand," Hermione grumbles.

Crap. And now my chin is bleeding again.

So far my plan for this Hunger Game is akin to Haymitch's from his Game – keep going until we find the end of the field which is probably somewhere over that mountain. Eventually we'll either freeze to death from colder temperatures, or find warmer climates and hopefully some form of animal to eat. Or just a whole lot of frozen forest devoid of any life except us idiots trying to kill each other, and one solitary over-cooked squirrel. Maybe Q just wants to watch us starve to death.

My allies are holding up fairly well despite our shared hunger. Harry and Hermione seem to have a look about them that they've been through hunger spells before, the same as Zelda and Link. I had expected Princess Zelda to be particularly unhappy about the lack of food, but to my surprise she has yet to utter a single word of complaint about being hungry.

"So, Zelda," I ask, trying to distract everyone from our growling stomachs, "What did you do last night to scare those guys off?"

"That was Din's Fire," Zelda responds in a voice both solemn and strong that belies her delicate features. I can't help but admire her silent strength and modesty of tone. "Din was the Goddess of Power. It is one of the abilities I learned in my training as the heir to the lineage of the Goddess of Hylia."

"At least we'll be able to cook something if we ever catch it," Link grumbles. "Y'know, hunting is a lot easier as a wolf. Being able to _smell_ your prey is…"

Link notices the odd looks everyone is giving him and he shrugs.

"So I turned into a wolf on occasion while fighting for Hyrle," Link snaps. "Got a problem with that?"

"Can you still?" Harry asks. Harry and Hermione seem very interested in this revelation. Sure, I think it's weird, but they seem to think it is interesting. My bad experience with wolf-humans muttations was more than enough for me. I still see the human eyes of the people I watched die in vicious attack animals in my dreams.

"Whoever that Q guy is he left my crystal in Hyrule," Link replies. "And I dare not touch it without Mi…never mind."

I look from Link to Zelda, and Zelda merely shakes her head at me. I know that look well. It says "don't ask." It must be a soft spot for the warrior.

I find those two very odd. Zelda and Link share a close bond, almost to the point where they seem to know what each other are thinking, but there are times when they appear to barely know each other. Link still bows slightly when speaking to her and refuses to hand anything to her with only a single hand. He is bordering obsessive in his protection of her, even preventing any of us from sitting beside her when we stop to rest.

I take point again and an hour passes without much notice before I see a small animal chewing on a tree. I stop unexpectedly and Hermione almost walks right into my back.

"Oh, Katniss!"

"Shhh!"

I motion for everyone to crouch down and I slowly bring the P-90 up to my shoulder. The animal takes a bite of a leaf held between its front paws and munches on it for a few seconds.

I wait for it to take another bite.

My cheek itches. I want to scratch it, but I can't.

My hand slowly comes up and cocks the bolt, making a click that causes the animal to freeze. Why is my chin so _itchy right now!_? I see its nose twitching, its eyes alert. I wonder if it sees me and for a second it seems our eyes are looking right into each other's souls.

My finger squeezes the trigger slowly as I exhale and…

Breakfast is served.

!#$%^&*

Jacen's team had been trudging through the snow for hours. He could sense that they were gaining on the other team; in fact, he knew that they were all headed in the same direction—toward a mountain in the distance. Their strategic plan made sense – a mountain would be more likely to have a cave that could provide some measure of protection from the elements and a defensible position. It seemed the more they walked, the slower Picard and Carter wanted to go and the more noise they made talking or shuffling their feet. Their morning was relatively relaxed with no animals or enemies appearing to try to kill them. The lack of activity left Jacen wondering if things were getting to be too quiet and if something would be happening to liven up the game.

The sun provided some measure of warmth, but a cold wind whipped through the forest whistling between the trees and threatening to steal what heat the humans generated if it were not for the advanced winter gear they wore. Picard, however, seemed impervious to the cold wind.

"Can it get any warmer?" Picard demanded, shedding his coat. He stopped to tie the arms around his waist, and Carter did likewise.

"I don't know," Carter agreed. "The heat is almost unbearable."

Jacen, Eriana, and Jack exchanged glances. They felt perfectly comfortable bundled up.

"Carter, you're looking pale. Are you okay?" Jack asked.

"Fine, sir. Never been better. Just warm."

"We should eat," Jacen suggested. He pulled the quiver off his back and extracted the remaining chunks of frozen wolf he had packed inside and tossed a leg to Eriana to cook for Carter. "We'll need to find something else to eat pretty soon."

"The noise we're making doesn't seem to help our hunting," Jack pointed out. The irritation in his voice was becoming so persistent the Jedi were beginning to wonder if the Colonel's first language was Sarcasm.

"Why don't we split up for a bit?" Jacen suggested and handed the Captain a chunk of steaming wolf. "Jack, you and Eriana can hunt ahead. Take both bows and see if you can track down some dinner. We'll keep on path to meet up with the other team. Eriana and I can locate each other easily, so you won't have a problem finding us."

"This is agreeable," Carter and Picard said in unison.

Jack looked slightly wary at this idea but nods. Jacen assumed he came up with the same conclusion: Picard and Carter are slowing everyone down and making too much noise. After lunch, Jack traded the sword and shield for Carter's bow and Eriana traded her lightsaber for Jacen's bow. Together they departed on an angle relative to Jacen's intended path in search of food while Jacen continued the search for the other team.

!#$%^&*()_+

As I prepare the poor little twitchy-nosed rodent for lunch with a knife created by Harry and his magic wand, I find it rather entertaining watching Harry and Hermione bicker about magic. Apparently there is a school for the magically adept and Hermione is at the top of her class. Harry himself does not know how to create a small, smokeless fire, but Hermione does, and she seems to be a pretty bad teacher. I know if I was Harry, I'd have smacked her twice by now. And that's me being restrained.

"Harry, _listen_," Hermione demands for the tenth time. "Ignis acap-_nos_. Emphasis on the _nos_. Not 'Ignis a-_cap_-nos.' Not 'Ig-_nis a-cap-_nos.' And certainly not 'Ignis Hermione!'"

"Sorry, but you were getting on my nerves with that wand motion lecture," Harry says through gritted teeth.

"Why don't you just give her the wand?" Link finally demands from the tree he's sitting against. The stick he was whittling with another of Harry's magically created knives is now the size of a tooth pick.

"He's the owner," Hermione says irritably. "Only the master of a wand can make it do the best magic, and I won't be able to make a smokeless fire. I can make fire, but it won't be smokeless. Only Harry can do that with his wand. So unless you want to alert everyone to our presence…"

"Like you're trying to do with your yelling?" Link asks.

"Knock it off," I tell them, but I don't think they're taking me seriously. Heck, I'm barely stopping myself from laughing, and they know it. "Harry, make the fire. We're hungry."

"_Ignis acapnos_," Harry says and a blue fire spits out of his wand. With another flick of his wand a steel grate appears over the fire at the perfect height to cook our little rodent.

"Happy?" Harry asks, but he's not looking at me.

"I'm not _un_happy," Hermione responds.

Geeze. I better get some food into these two before they kill someone. Or get married.

I slap the meat onto the grill and Link hands me a forked branch that he had whittled the bark off to use as a fork. Ten minutes later we're all munching on the best rodent meal we've ever tasted sitting around the warm blue campfire.

"There has to be more food out here somewhere," Harry says.

" 'opefully a 'ountain 'oat," I say around a chunk of rodent. Zelda doesn't look impressed with me, but nobody else seems to care.

"Or a herd," Hermione says. "I could eat a whole goat by myself!"

I don't know what's worse: Hermione telling Harry off or Hermione being annoyingly optimistic about food. Maybe it's just her Capitol accent that makes me want to gouge my ear drums out when I'm around her. It doesn't matter. I grab another chunk of rodent and start chewing to abate my frustration.

Our furry little friend does not last long and I'm still hungry. I leave the others behind for a moment to survey the landscape ahead of us, but it's more to get away from Hermione than to do any actual surveying. I can still hear her bickering still as I look ahead at the ground we need to cover. The forest is starting to thin out slightly, but there are still trees as far as I can see. The evergreens mixed among the bare skeletons of the deciduous trees bring a bit of colour to the otherwise bleak landscape, but the thinner tree population allows me to see the mountain in the distance a bit clearer than before.

A pair of boots crunches the snow up beside me and I see Link's green cap out of the corner of my eye.

"There's a river leading down the mountain." Link points at a faint crack I had not noticed before. "It seems to come this way. If we find it, we'll be able to follow it without having to worry about our tracks."

"I think I can hear water running that way." I point slightly to the left of the peak of the mountain, somewhat in the direction we're going.

"I concur," Link says. He turns and looks at me with an even more serious look on his face than usual. "The others are not warriors like we are."

"No, they're not," I glance back and see Harry balling his fists in frustration and Zelda snickering behind one of her delicate gloved hands at the two magic folk. Sure they're not warriors, but they're useful in their own way. Given his protectiveness about Zelda, I'm surprised he's trying to recruit me. "I don't think that changes anything though."

Link's brow furrows.

"I don't know how things can stay the same," Link says. "With your friend gone, it is up to us to protect them. If we are going to survive, we have to work together."

"Oh, yeah, I agree," I say.

Teaming up _against_ them! What was I thinking? I've been in too many of these damned games.

"I think it would be smart for one of us to take point, and the other to take the rear at all times," Link continues. "Since you can hear the river, I suggest you remain on point. I'll protect our backs. If someone attacks us from the rear, I'm more comfortable fighting them up close. Your weapon has the range advantage."

"Absolutely. Good planning, Link."

Of course I want him covering my back. The guy's more courageous and loyal than anyone I've ever met.

"We should head out again," I tell him and slap him on the shoulder. Despite knowing that one or both of us will die within the next few days, I can't help but like him. "I'm glad we're on the same team."

!#$%^&*()

A couple hours after Jack and Eriana's departure, Jacen's group slowed to almost a crawl. Jacen was about fifty metres ahead at the top of a small hill assessing the area. He decided to go ahead a bit and let them catch up because he was frustrated with their ever-slowing pace. He waited a few minutes, examining the landscape with Force-enhanced vision when he heard someone approaching. The Force told him it was Carter.

"Ah, good, I was just taking a breather," Jacen said, trying to make himself look like the cause of their slowness. He turned to face Carter and nearly fell backward. The veins in her face were bright green, her skin deathly pale, and most startlingly, a mechanical claw seemed to be protruding from her cheek and covering her right eye. Her left iris was completely black.

"We are the Borg," Carter's heavily mechanized voice said, her left hand reaching for him. "You will be assimilated. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile."

"Assimilate this!" Jacen used the Force to shove her backward and performed a back flip to gather some distance. She fell over and down a bit of the hill until she hit a tree. The sword and shield were still strapped to her back, so Jacen used the Force to whip the blade out of its scabbard and draw it into his outstretched hand.

Carter scrambled to her feet and ran toward him with surprising speed. He side-stepped her lunge and chopped her right arm and leg off. Black blood like oil spurted from the severed stumps and Carter fell to the ground. A quick examination of the limbs showed more mechanical parts in her than human.

_How the hell did this happen?_

Jacen walked around her as she struggled to get back to her feet, stopping about a metre back from her head. He took the sword up and brought it down in a two-handed strike that cleaved her head in two. The sight of her head being cut in half with both mechanical and biological parts staring back at him almost made him vomit. With a flash of light her body disappeared and a loud cannon blast echoed through the woods.

_So _that's_ what those cannon blasts indicated. _Jacen thought. _Someone being eliminated._

He collected the shield and scabbard and put them on his back. He looked around and realized that there was no sign of Picard, except his rapier leaning against a tree almost a hundred metres away. Using the Force he called the blade to his hand and tucked it into his belt.

_Using her life to save your own hide, Picard? _Jacen thought. _If this is what the Borg are, then they need to die._

!#$%^&*()

Jacen approached Eriana and Jack so quietly that both Jedi knew that Jack had no idea he was there. Jacen could sense Jack's concentration as he neared and knew he was targeting some prey. The arrow flew from Jack's compound bow and skewered something that yelped in the distance.

"Good shot, Colonel," Eriana said. "Jacen's here."

Jack turned around to see Jacen and the Jedi finally approached.

"Where are Carter and Picard?"

"Dead and a traitor," Jacen said angrily and handed Eriana her lightsaber. "Carter attacked me so Picard could escape. I was forced to kill her."

"You killed Carter?" Jack demanded. In a flash he had an arrow loaded and pointed at Jacen's heart at point blank range. "How _dare_ you kill one of my officers?"

"She was a _Borg_," Jacen said. His voice was barely steady despite his welling anger. "Picard infected her, probably on the first night. Remember when he said he was one of them? Something tells me the Borg Queen reactivated him. The whole time they've been finishing each other's sentences and slowing us down..."

"We could have saved her!" Jack spat. "You didn't even try!"

Jacen grabbed the arrow and wrestled it from Jack's grip. He grabbed the Colonel by the coat and brought his face to within an inch of the older man's.

"Half her body was _machine_," Jacen shouted. "I cut her arm off and the bones were covered in metal. I cut her head in _half_ and her brain looked like a _computer_. I have _no_ _idea_ how to save someone from _that_!"

"Stop it, both of you," Eriana said and wrestled the two men apart. "What's done is done. We have to push on."

Jack stepped backward until he ended up with his back against a tree and slid down it to the ground. He took the hat off his head and hung his head between his arms, looking down at the ground in despair. Jacen took a few steps away himself and found a tree to lean against, still trying to cope with the grisly murder he was forced to commit. He could hear the colonel repeat "Carter" a few times as he struggled to get his head around the loss of his teammate.

"How do I know you won't kill me now?" Jack finally asked. "I mean, for all I know you two orchestrated the whole thing to take us out. Divide and conquer."

"For one, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead," Eriana said. "Second, well, think about it. Those two were acting funny for the last day. This explains it."

"But why _Carter_?" Jack demanded. "Why not one of us?"

"Maybe something about her body made her more attractive than us," Jacen said. "She could've been higher in iron, which would be a better environment for the nanites to reproduce. Or maybe he infected her because she was closest to him at any given time. Who knows?"

"Naquadah," Jack groaned. "She had a snake in her once that left Naquadah in her system. It's a heavy metallic element."

"Let's go," Eriana ordered. "The other team won't find themselves."

Jacen turned around and saw her holding a small animal with an arrow in its side. She yanked it out and replaced it in her quiver. She pulled the quiver off and tied the animal's head around the strap where she already had two others. Jacen handed Jack the rapier and kept the broadsword and shield for himself.

"At least we'll be able to cover more ground," Jacen said grimly. "It sucks, I know, but we have to push on."

Jack grunted and pushed past Jacen on the path he assumed was toward the others.

"He _loved_ her, you idiot," Eriana whispered to Jacen and fell into step behind Jack.

Jacen stood in surprise for a moment.

"Oh."

!#$%^&*()

The river, as Link said, had washed away most of the snow from the pebbly banks. Walking along the rocks is a bit trickier than trudging through the forest and waiting for Harry to ensure our tracks are covered, but still, we cover more ground and now have an absolute direction to follow. Thankfully the bright sun has melted what little ice has accumulated on the rocks. The river itself is about ten metres across and impossible for us to cross, so we stay on one side and avoid the fast moving current as best we can.

After several uneventful hours as we watch the sun go down, we finally decide that we need to set up camp. Link and I argue that we need to be a distance from the shore while Hermione and Harry want to use some sort of camouflage spell and sleep on flat ground.

"That tree was _so_ uncomfortable," Hermione groans. "My back is still a wreck."

"There are ten different spells," Harry argues. "One will keep people from noticing us. Another will make us each blend into our surroundings. We've used these for months without detection. Don't forget, there's one less person hunting us, if that cannon blast was what Katniss said it was."

"Have you tested your magic against someone like Ganondorf?" Link asks. He shakes his head. "I'll take my chances in the tree. If you want to use your spells in the tree, be my guest."

"The combination would work best," Zelda says, trying to diffuse the situation. I suppose part of her training as a princess included diplomacy or something, but, whatever it is, all three stop arguing and listen to her. "I trust your magic, Harry, but we need to take every precaution. We've already lost one. I'd hate to lose another of you."

"Zelda's right," I say. "Up the tree, and then you can do whatever magic you think is best to hide us for the night."

After ensuring everyone is tucked in, I climb into my own tree for the night and give Harry the signal. He waves his wand and one by one we all disappear from view just as the sun disappears over the horizon.


	3. Chapter 3

My editor has been too busy to edit...so I'm going ahead and posting it in honour of the movie release. I'm going to see it shortly...hope you enjoy this :)

As for Anakin vs Vader...I wanted a dark side guy and Palpatine seemed too obvious the choice. Too boring, too. Anakin and Mara's connections to Jacen, I thought, would prove interesting in chapters to come.

* * *

><p>Morning comes far too early after an uneventful night, but is not without a surprise. Below us are three heavily armed humans looking around for something. My mind comes to full alertness when I realize that it is <em>us<em> they're looking for.

"I know they're here," one of the men says. "We just can't see them."

"Invisible people?" Another man asks. Wow. I thought I knew what sarcasm sounded like, but this guy's the master. "Do you _listen_ to yourself?"

"No, he's right." That one's a girl. She has long blonde hair that spills out across the back of her coat. She points right at the tree I know Link is in. "I don't see it, but I can feel it is right there."

_What_ does she feel?

"There's some kind of residual energy around here, too," the first man says. "I feel four...no, five faint signatures but I can't really place them."

"I don't sense anything," the woman says. "Just your lightsaber."

"That's why I'm the master and you're but the apprentice."

"Well, _I_ don't see them rushing out to greet us," the sarcastic man says. "So do we keep going or stand here like idiots all day?"

"Let me..." the first man closes his eyes and holds a hand up. A flash of light emits from his palm that he throws into the air. Suddenly, we're all visible again.

I scramble half way out of my bag and bring my P-90 to my shoulder.

"Don't move!" I shout. "Drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads!"

"That's my gun!" Mr. Sarcastic says.

"Do as she says," the sorcerer guy tells him. He tosses my bow and a giant sword to the ground and puts his hands onto his head. "We mean you no harm and we're here to join forces."

The blonde and the sarcastic guy drop Gale's bow, another metal cylinder like the one I gave Link, and a rapier. Five weapons. They must have dropped one – Hermione's wand.

"Hermione, Link, get down there and take their weapons," I call. "Harry and I will cover you."

As Hermione and Link work their way down the tree I fully extract myself from the sleeping bag, careful to keep my weapon trained on the intruders.

Link walks around and picks up the broadsword. He holds it up to the sky and looks at it like it is a lost treasure. I can hear him sing a tune.

"Da-da-da-DAH!"

"What are you doing?" Hermione asks.

Link looks back at her and blushes. "Nothing."

I can't quite figure out why, but he does the exact same thing with his shield after taking it off the one guy's back. Great job, Link. You've just proven we're crazy. You're the master.

After Link and Hermione finally have the intruders' weapons a safe distance from the intruders, Harry, Zelda and I return to the ground. All three of them are older than the rest of us, especially Mr Sarcastic. Oddly enough, the other two seem to look more like we are the ones at their mercy, not the other way around. I won't lie to myself – this is a bit unnerving.

"Names and intentions," I say. "If I don't like the answers, I'll end this interview quickly."

"You're rather young to be this jaded," Mr Sarcastic says.

I point my gun at his head.

"Offering yourself first?"

"Jack O'Neill. I'm just following them."

"Jacen Solo and Eriana Fostenon," the other guy says. "We came looking for you because we figured you're more of the good guys. The fact that we're having this conversation is a pretty good indication that we were right. Now if you'd like, we could sort out all our weapons and start planning how to fight back against some of those other guys who look to be a lot more inclined to kill us than we are to kill anyone. Sound good to you?"

"How do we know we can trust you?" Link asks. He points the tip of his broadsword to the man's neck.

In a flash, the cylinder from Link's belt is in the man's hand, and the one on the ground behind Hermione is in the woman's. I pull the trigger on my gun, but nothing happens. Link has a glowing blade of green against his neck with his sword wrist in Jacen's armpit, Harry's wand is in Jack's hand, and Eriana's lightsaber is at Zelda's neck. Hermione's gun is pointed straight up despite her struggles to point it at the intruders.

"Where did this come from?" Jack asks stupidly.

"We're not here to kill you guys," Jacen says. "But we will protect ourselves. The fact is, we're all in this game together and we have a better chance of surviving as a team."

I would give up on the P-90 and go for the other gun on my hip, but there's no way I could do anything that would save both Link and Zelda at the same time. And they've done a pretty good job of convincing us we're easy enough to kill if they really wanted to kill us.

"Alright," I say. "What do you propose?"

!#$%^&*()

Katniss's ceasefire between teams broke the tension and allowed everyone to take a step back and reassess the situation. Everyone introduced themselves and Eriana oversaw the distribution of weapons along the ground in front of everyone. Everyone picked out the ones they thought were best suited for themselves, leaving a few behind. Jacen and Eriana took up their lightsabers. Link and Zelda picked up the two swords, and Link took the shield to himself. Jack took both P-90s, all of the extra ammo clips and one of the weapons he called a "Zat-gun." Katniss took her bow, one quiver, and the other Zat. Harry and Hermione were reunited with their wands, which pleased everyone who had lived with Hermione for the last two days more than it pleased her.

"Looks like we have a few extras," Jacen said. "Eriana, you grab one of the energy rifles."

"I'll take the bow," Zelda said with a hint of mischievousness in her delicate voice. "I think I can improve the arrows."

After hearing that the others had not eaten much, Eriana prepared some of the animals she and Jack had shot to hand around to everyone.

"Looks like we're all down a few," Harry said. "Do you guys know anything about the others?"

"We had six at the start," Jacen said. "One got hit in the hail storm and died. The other two were assimilated as Borg. One escaped. The other didn't."

Jack looked away bitterly but did not correct Jacen's assessment.

"One of ours disappeared in the middle of the night," Harry said. "We don't know what happened to him at all."

"By my count, four of the twenty four are dead," Katniss said. "Two died at the start, and if two on your team died, that means Gale is still alive."

"We're in no position to mount a rescue attempt," Jack said. "We don't even know where they are."

"Which is why I propose we attack," Jacen said. "We need to find the smallest number of enemies we can and wipe them out."

"I'm inclined to let them kill each other off," Katniss said.

"No, they'll keep hunting us," Jacen argued. "I don't want them to keep coming after us and taking turns running us down. I want to strike back and put a dent in their game plan. We have a strong team now that we're all together."

"First we have to find someone _to_ kill before a time can occur in which we _do_ kill them," Jack pointed out. "We've all been heading _that_ way away from the others and we have no idea what they've been doing. Have you guys even seen the enemy?"

"We were attacked on the first night by a girl with one of those glowing swords and a guy with yellow eyes," Katniss said. "They also had Lord Voldemort, Harry's enemy of choice, with them."

"Mara and Vader," Jacen said. "I know them. They'll be difficult to kill. Very difficult."

"What are their skill sets?" Katniss asked.

"Mara's a trained assassin," Jacen said. "She's been trained in the deadliest teachings from across our galaxy. Vader's a dark version of someone like me. Half sorcerer, half warrior, I guess you could say."

"Could you beat him?" Link asked.

Jacen looked him square in the eye and held his gaze.

"I don't know. Part of me doesn't want to find out, either."

!#$%^&*()

I don't really trust the Jedi, but I have to admit that they have planned things well. Jack has proven himself not only a master of sarcasm, but also a master of strategy. My team, comprised of our leader Eriana, Hermione, and myself, run through the woods to complete our mission ahead of the other team. We're the scouts. Faster moving, quieter, and equipped with magic and skill, we are tasked with finding our first targets. The other team, surprisingly led by Jack, are the "heavy hitters."

I can't really fault Jack's logic. Jacen, Harry and Zelda, with their unique forms of magic, can cause more destruction than any of us. Link is a master sword fighter, especially now that he has been reunited with his sword and shield, and Jack has his loud, lethal P-90s. We've been paired up to make best use of our skills, though I wonder if Jacen and Hermione should have been switched. Apparently the Jedi can communicate over long distances, which is why they've been separated.

Our job is simple. We find the target, communicate their position to the other team, and wait until they call us for our long distance weapons, if they're needed.

After about two hours of running through the woods, Eriana finally stops us. Things are starting to look familiar, and I realize where we are – the site of the first attack.

"Someone's not far from here," Eriana explains her sudden stop. Her eyes are half closed and one hand is hovering in front of her. "Two of them. Strong presences. One is like a beacon of light."

"Could be Ganondorf and Twinrova," Hermione says.

"Or Anubis and Osiris," I reply. "Nobody has heard from either pair."

"I'm calling the others in," Eriana says. "Let's try to locate them."

We start jogging in the vague direction Eriana pointed toward a cluster of evergreen trees. I don't know if Eriana expects to use them for cover or if the targets are behind them until she jogs right in between the branches. We ease our way through them as silently as we can, but the branches and needles scrape on our plastic coats. And this is why I prefer wearing soft leather when I hunt.

We drop to the ground and slowly crawl our way under the branches, careful not to let my bow and arrows get caught. As we come to the far end of the evergreen grove, Osiris and Anubis come into view.

"We were wise to leave Ganondorf and Twinrova behind," Anubis says. "That lumbering brute is too slow and useless."

"So long as I get to kill O'Neill with my bare hands, I don't really care about the others," Osiris says.

"You will get your revenge, Osiris. Of this, I am certain. For now, rest that frail human body of yours. I will keep you safe."

"Yes, my lord."

We watch as Osiris collects some cut branches and lies down on them to sleep. Could we have found a better time to attack them? Anubis is just standing there waiting, and we have our team on the way!

Eriana catches on and gives Hermione and I a thumbs up. I assume that means Jacen is getting the team in position.

I lose track of how long we lie there waiting. I may have even fallen asleep at some point and woken up without realizing I was asleep, but eventually a streak of light comes out of nowhere and hits Anubis head on. A blast of fire, a stream of electricity. Gunshots. And Eirana takes off.

I see Eriana sprinting after Osiris and tackle her to the ground. They tumble down a small hill out of my view and I long to go after them, but the bombardment of magic on Anubis is breathtaking. Anubis is trying to fight back somehow with white light, but Zelda is laying the fire on thick. Jacen seems to have some massive conduit of green light that he's fighting back against Anubis with, and Harry's spells are distracting him to give Jacen the upper hand.

"Fire in the hole!" Jack yells. I see something land at Anubis's feet and a massive explosion swallows him up. Zelda and Harry stop attacking, but Jacen's beam of light is still persisting. After the fire clears I see a black mist caught in Jacen's grasp and being pulled toward the Jedi. When an arm's length from Jacen, he shouts something and Zelda reaches out toward the mist. A blue crystal coalesces around the black mist trapping it from going anywhere.

"Harry, hold it!"

Harry waves his wand and the crystal floats in front of them.

"Okay, everyone stand back," Jacen warns. "I've only done this a few times, and it might get messy."

Zelda and Harry take several steps back from Jacen. He holds his hands in front of himself and a black ball of something appears between his palms. His face is gritted with concentration as he tries to control his creation. A great wind races toward Jacen and all of a sudden the blue crystal elongates and disappears into the black ball. With great effort, Jacen slams his palms together and the black ball and wind disappears.

A cannon blast echoes through the woods, and Jacen collapses.

"What was that?" Hermione gasps and runs up to see Jacen.

Another cannon blast goes off and I take off the other direction to find Eriana. Over the hill I find Osiris and Eriana lying on the ground. With a flash of light, Osiris's body disappears. Eriana puts a hand to her head and I run over to her.

"Eriana! Are you okay?"

"Katniss? Yeah, I got her," Eriana says. "I was able to direct her head onto that rock there as we fell. I also got a second lightsaber."

I help her to her feet and steady her before she can fall over.

"You have some blood on your cheek," I tell her. She wipes it off with the back of her right hand.

"Must've bit my cheek," she says. "Did they get Anubis?"

"It was a hell of a show, but they got him," I say. "I've never seen anything like it."

"That's Jacen for you." Eriana smiles at me, and I don't entirely like the look of it. "He's quite something."

!#B$N%M&^&^V(*( my cat did some of that.

A steady throb greeted Jacen into consciousness. He could feel every last footprint from the marching band that had travelled through his head in one ear and out the other and was sure they left their pet Bantha behind.

"Eriana?"

"Here," Jacen's friend rushed to his side and took his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"You don't want to know," Jacen said. "Did it work?"

"Sucking Anubis into a black hole?" Eriana asked. "Yeah, it worked. Brilliant. Stupid, but brilliant. You could've destroyed this whole planet."

"Everything gets sucked in," Jack said. His face appeared in Jacen's area of vision. "Good job, kid. I might have to bring you back to the SGC with me if you can kill Goa'uld like that."

"One game at a time," Jacen said. He put his hand to his head for a moment and concentrated on the Force. He calmed the throbbing pain in his brain and sped up the healing process. After a few seconds the headache was gone. He stood up and looked around. Eriana and Jack were standing beside him, but the others were eating something that once had a white fur coat that now covered the pile of its guts at Katniss's feet.

"Have some rabbit; it's delicious." Katniss held up a chunk of meat for him on the end of a stick.

_The Ice Queen can melt_, Jacen thought and gratefully took the offered meat.

"What's next?" Jacen asked and popped the rabbit into his mouth.

As if to answer his question, a heavy wind started up and picked up snow with it. Within two seconds the entire group was surrounded by a blizzard.

"This isn't natural!" Jacen shouted. "Something is doing this! Stick together! Everyone hold hands."

Jacen found Eriana and Jack's hands and they pushed towards the others against the wind. It almost seemed like the wind was trying to drive them all apart.

"Katniss! This way!" Jacen shouted.

"Jacen!"

They pushed towards Katniss's voice and a scream punctuated through the windstorm.

"Hermione!" Harry's voice called out.

A ball of orange fire broke out in the middle of the blizzard and radiated outward. They found themselves in a ball of warmth with Zelda at the centre, and Hermione lying on her side at Zelda's feet. Jacen and Harry rushed toward her, but with an echoing cannon blast and flash of light she was gone. Only her wand and some blood-soaked snow were left behind.

Tears were already streaming down Harry's face when he fell to his knees and picked up the discarded wand. He fell forward, pulled off his glasses and cried into his hands. Katniss knelt beside him and pulled him into a hug where he sobbed on her shoulder.

Jacen walked up to Jack and Eriana.

"It was Mara," Jacen whispered. "She's the only one who would kill with a knife. They're taunting us, trying to lure us out. I could sense there was magic behind that blizzard."

"They might attack again," Jack said, his eyes already scanning their surroundings for another threat.

"No," Jacen said. "They sent their message. They wanted us to know they can kill us at any time they want to. They want to lure us into a trap."

A cackling laugh came from above and everyone looked up.

"Twinrova!" Link shouted.

"She did this!" Harry shouted. He pushed Katniss aside, pointed his wand to the sky and shouted "_Avada Kedavra!"_

A vicious green blast of energy launched at the witch but missed. Harry sent his green curse repeatedly, but the witch danced out of the way laughing at his efforts.

Jacen reached out with his hand grabbed Twinrova with the Force. He swung his fist toward the ground and Twinrova followed the arc of his hand. She crashed through the trees. About three hundred metres away she slammed into the ground in a burst of snow and dirt.

Harry took off toward Twinrova with a murderous look in his eyes, but Jacen sprinted past him. The Force lent him speed and he was there in the blink of an eye, his lightsaber ignited and against Twinrova's neck.

"Who are you working with?" Jacen demanded. Not wanting to waste time he shoved his consciousness into Twinrova's mind and pushed for the answers he needed.

"Ganon...lost…alone…Sith welcomed me…"

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

Jacen jumped back at the last second and the spell hit Twinrova. A cannon blast and a flash of light were all that was left of Twinrova.

"Good shot, Harry," Jacen said. He tried to disguise the bitterness in his voice. Harry felt her death was justified to avenge Hermione's. Jacen was sure he would feel the same way if Jaina, Eriana or Tenel Ka was killed, but he barely got any information out of Twinrova. A gentle sobbing caught Jacen's attention.

He looked back at the young sorcerer and saw him crying into his hands again. Katniss finally caught up to him and hugged him, whispering soft condolences while looking at Jacen with sad, haunted eyes.

Jacen looked back at the crater of Twinrova and noticed a white stick with a sculpted handle sticking out of the ground. He called it to his hand with the Force and he noticed the handle. It was carved to look like a bone and carried a powerful magical signature, much more powerful than Hermione's had.

_Voldemort's wand,_ Jacen thought. _Maybe it's time I learned how to use one of these things._

!#$%^&*()

Harry falls asleep in my arms and I finally ease him to the ground. The loss of Hermione hit him hard – about as hard as losing Gale or Peeta would hit me. The fact that I don't know what happened to Gale and didn't hear a cannon blast marking his death is the only meagre hope I have left sustaining me.

I finally get up and walk over to where Jacen, Link, Zelda, Jack, and Eriana are discussing our next move.

"Tell her what you told us," Jack tells Jacen when I approach.

"Twinrova was working with Vader and Mara," Jacen says. "Ganondorf was _lost_, she said."

"Lost?" I ask. "Did he chase a bunny and forget where he was?"

"I didn't get much more than that." Jacen looks pissed. "Harry killed her before I had a chance to dig more out of her head."

"What now?"

"We kill off the Sith," Jack says. "Not much more we can do. There are three of them and we have no idea how many Borg. My best count is five."

"Five?" I ask. "How do you get that number?"

"There are seven of us," Jack says, holding out a finger for each person. "Three in Team Sith. Our buddy Picard, the Borg Queen, that pointy-eared guy with the mushroom cut, the other witch who needs some hair-care product, and your buddy Gale. There have been eight cannon blasts, and Ganondorf has gone Blair Witch Project on us. That's twenty four."

"Gale wouldn't join the Borg," I say. It's impossible. He'd never betray me! "He's probably out there trying to take them down on his own."

"I don't think admission is voluntary," Jacen says carefully. His eyes are full of sympathy. I hate it when people look at me like that. "Carter got infected and she tried to infect me. She didn't seem to be in control of her actions."

"How's Pottyboy doing?" Jack asked. "Can he make me some more grenades?"

"He's asleep," I say. "The poor guy was close to her. Like a sister. I didn't like her much, but she was a good person."

The thought of a sister almost brings me to tears. The scars from Primrose's death are still fresh. I miss her so much, but now isn't the time to lose focus on survival.

"So was Carter," Jack says. "We're all good people in a bad situation."

"Sleep sounds like a good idea," Jacen interrupts. "Tomorrow we'll see what we can do about the Sith. I'll take watch."

"You haven't slept since we got here," Jack reminds Jacen.

"I can't," Jacen says. "Get some for me. I'll walk a patrol."

Jacen walks off and I run after him.

"Jacen, what's that about?" I ask. He looks down at me sadly and shakes his head.

"I haven't been able to sleep in a year. It's really complicated and I don't want to go into detail, but I've found ways to make it bearable. Just trust me that I know what I'm doing. You don't have to worry about me dozing off. You'll be safe."

I can't follow him now as he walks away. I know he isn't going far but I'm sad to see him walk away. I have to admit, he's starting to grow on me.

I finally decided to listen to him and I walk back to Harry. I pick Harry up and carry him back toward the others where we break out the sleeping bags and get some sleep. With Jacen patrolling us, I feel safe falling asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry about the long delay. I've been waiting for someone to edit for me, but everyone seems to be as busy as I am. So I'm going to do this another way...point out anything you think is horrible, and I'll look into fixing it. Sound good?

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><p>When I wake up the birds are singing and my stomach is growling. Even though I know we ate the last of our food last night, my stomach decides I need to be reminded that I'm neglecting it.<p>

Jack and Link are gone, and so are both bows. I hope they went hunting as I get up and survey our campsite. Jacen's sitting on a log in front of a blue smokeless fire holding a wand, and the others are still asleep. I walk over and join him on the log, sitting right beside him and resting my head on his shoulder.

"Sleep well?"

"Better than you," I say. "Been playing with fire?"

"Harry and Hermione's wands intrigued me," Jacen admits. "The wand is a conduit of internal energy and intent. By visualizing what I want I'm able to project it through the wand. At first I thought it was merely a means to focus one's efforts, but it's much more than that. It almost feels like the wand actively changes the energy according to the intent of the wielder. For example, if I think of healing your chin."

He points the wand at my face and I feel a warm glow. I put my hand to my face and all of the scratches are gone.

"I've even been able to create a few objects, like extra arrows, but I can't seem to make any food."

"Harry said there's some law of magic preventing it," I tell him. "I thought those wands were...personal. Hermione said she couldn't use Harry's."

"It took a bit of work, but I think I convinced it that I'm a much better master for it than Voldemort was," Jacen has this crooked grin on his face that looks so disarming and...oh, crap. I _can't_ be falling for him. No, Katniss, stay focused. You might have to kill him. Don't get too attached.

"Great." I hope he didn't notice my pause. "Hunting Sith today?"

"I took a walk last night, probably a bit farther than I should have," Jacen says. "But I think it was worth it. I found where the Borg are hiding. They're about five kilometres north-east of here and they've established a base. I saw the Borg Queen, Picard, and I think it was Bellatrix. Somehow they're tapping energy from Ganondorf, probably as a food supply or something. I don't know what the Borg need to survive, but if its energy, some guy with the Triforce of Power sounds like the battery they need."

"You were _five_ kilometres from here while we were all sleeping?"

"More like _four_," Jacen says somewhat defensively. "I have really good vision. They're all covered in metallic growths of some sort."

"You can't leave us like that if you're on watch!"

"The Sith are far away," Jacen said. "I found them, too. Now that I'm more exposed to magic I can get a better sense of it. Mara and Vader are hiding themselves well, but Voldemort isn't. They're about four kilometres north-west of here near a small lake. Don't worry, I would've alerted Eriana to wake up if I sensed they were on the move."

"You said yesterday they were trying to lure us into a trap. How does that fit into it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jacen smirks. "They're letting me locate Voldemort. He's the bait to lure us into their trap."

"I have to kill him," Harry's voice comes from behind us. "Voldemort and I share a connection. If he doesn't die by my hand, nobody can kill him."

Jacen looks doubtful but decides not to argue with Harry. He holds up the white wand that looks like it had been carved from a bone. "He'll probably be a bit easier to kill without this."

"How did you get his wand?" Harry demands.

"Twinrova dropped it," Jacen said. "I spent all night...retraining it."

"You're its master now?"

Jacen merely nods as he stares into the fire.

Zelda and Eriana join us a few seconds later and we all enjoy the warmth of the fire together. Without warning Jacen flicks the wand and the fire disappears. Before I can ask why, I hear footsteps coming from our right. I look past Jacen's hunched figure and see Jack and Link coming back.

"Nothing," Jack says. "Not even a chipmunk."

We pack up and decide to head toward the Sith camp that Jacen had located last night. The whole way there Jack and Link discussed with Jacen the best plan of attack, and they end up deciding on emulating the attack on the Goa'uld – Eriana and myself are to go ahead and send back details on the proverbial trap, and the rest of them spring it.

When we're about two kilometres from where Jacen says the Sith base is, Eriana and I start running ahead. My stomach is growling like crazy and my head is pounding, but somehow I keep up with Eriana. It seems like she only gets stronger as our situation gets more miserable, and I can't help but be envious.

The trees in this part of the forest are thicker and wider spaced. The ground begins to dip downwards and downhill from us is a lake with a camp on the far side. Eriana and I sneak from tree-to-tree until we can clearly see all three targets surrounding a fire being tended by Voldemort. I can't help but notice, but they look far too intent on staring at the fire. Something _must_ be wrong.

Eriana and I wait for minutes, but it seems like hours. Eventually we hear something behind us, and Jacen comes over the hill. His lightsaber is on his belt, and he is empty-handed.

"What is he _doing_?" I hear Eriana whisper.

"Anakin Skywalker," Jacen shouts. "I know you're out there! I want to talk to you. Let's keep it in the family, shall we?"

!#$%^&*()

Darth Vader appeared from behind a tree several metres away from Jacen and activated his red lightsaber.

"What do you know about my family, Jedi?" Vader asked.

"More than you," Jacen responded. "Go ahead. I'm sure you'll recognize Skywalker blood if you look hard enough."

Jacen felt Vader's presence probing his own for a moment.

"Impossible," Vader spat. "I'm an only child."

"I'm your grandson," Jacen said. He could sense the shock from everyone except Eriana. "My name is Jacen. I know the path you're on. Palpatine has led you to believe he can give you what you need, but you've lost sight of the truth."

Vader slashed at a tree angrily and it crashed to the ground behind him. "And what truth is _that_?"

"That the Sith are full of empty promises and that to Palpatine you're nothing more than a trophy," Jacen said sadly. "And what you, Anakin Skywalker, really need is your wife, Padme."

"Don't say her name, Jedi!" Vader shouted and jumped at Jacen.

!#$%^&*()

When I saw Link fighting Mara, I thought he was pretty good. Now, watching Jacen's green lightsaber dance with Vader's, I have to admit that Link has nothing on these two. Vader's attacks are fast and furious, and Jacen's defence is elegant and efficient. When their lightsabers clash there is a shockwave that echoes out from them that even shakes the trees. Vader puts so much power into his strikes that I know both his attacks and Jacen's defences are far beyond what a normal human could ever do.

So captivated by them, I barely notice that another fight is breaking out down on the other side of the lake. Harry and Zelda used Jacen's distraction to sneak down to the lake and a full fledged magic battle is breaking out down there. It seems like an evenly matched battle, a slugging match between both forces.

Mara, Jack and Link are nowhere to be seen though. I draw an arrow from my quiver and notch it onto my bow.

"What do we do?" I ask Eriana.

"Nothing," she says. "We wait for Mara to show herself."

!#$%^&*()

Jacen took blow after blow of Vader's attacks on his lightsaber and could scarcely believe the power behind them. Vader used the Force more like a blunt instrument than any other opponent Jacen had ever fought. Telekinetic shockwaves echoed through the lightsaber blows that would have stunned the Jedi had he not learned the technique from the ascended form of Anakin himself and prepared for it. A Soresu defence is nearly impregnable, as Obi-Wan had taught him, and was the only thing that kept the old Jedi Master alive in the battle on Mustafar. The more Vader fought, the more aggressive he became. There seemed no end to the fury of a fully enraged Darth Vader and Jacen found Soresu was starting to tire him out. There was only one thing to do.

Jacen jumped back and put some distance between him and Vader. He had roughly one second before Vader could close the gap and he used it wisely. He spun his lightsaber into three figure eights, which was just enough time to clear his mind into Vaapad.

Jacen slashed and hit Vader's blade head on, launching his own telekinetic shockwave with the impact. Vader stumbled back, not expecting the attack, and Jacen pressed forward returning every attack Vader laid on him. Pushing on with the cold vicious attacks only the seventh form had to offer, Jacen drove him back even further. Moving faster than Vader and completely unpredictably, Jacen began to overwhelm the Sith Lord and put him on the defensive.

Darth Vader did not like going defensive.

Darth Vader did not like Jedi Masters who knew Vaapad.

And Darth Vader _really_ did _not_ like _any_ Jedi that could outfight him.

Anger flooded Vader and the two warriors caught each other's blades in a bind. Angry yellow-red eyes burned into unyielding brown eyes.

"You fight well, for a Jedi," Vader said through gritted teeth.

"And here I thought we were having a friendly dance," Jacen said with a lopsided grin.

Vader screamed and launched a telekinetic shockwave at Jacen that sent him tumbling backward nearly fifty metres against a tree. Vader ran up to Jacen, kicked his lightsaber aside and pointed the blade at Jacen's throat. Anger seethed from his every pore and his eyes glowed with hatred.

"What's one more Jedi to kill?" Vader asked. "Another pitiful fool on a long list of fools I've killed."

"There's still good in you," Jacen said. Pain flared up his back, but he ignored it. "Join us."

"There is no...ugh!"

A half metre section of steel appeared through Vader's heart and his eyes went wide. He dropped to his knees, dropped his lightsaber, and fell over. A cannon blast echoed through the woods, and Vader's body disappeared.

"Thanks, Link," Jacen said. "I guess I _can't_ take him."

Link appeared out of thin air as the spell keeping him invisible faded away. Jack appeared right beside him, scanning the woods around them with his P-90 at the ready.

"You did better than any of us could have," Link said. Something caught his eye and his head jerked up. Without warning, he sprinted toward the lake.

"Link?" Jacen asked. He scrambled to his knees and saw Zelda on the ground at Voldemort's feet and Harry being suspended over the lake with magic.

!#$%^&*()

"We have to help them," I tell Eriana, bringing my bow to the ready. I line up the shot at Voldemort and out of the corner of my eye I see Eriana's fist coming at my jaw.

!#$%^&*()

Jacen watched helplessly as Link ran toward Voldemort. He was still too tired from his lack of sleep and the battle with Vader to help.

"What is that kid thinking?" Jack demanded.

"Zelda," Jacen said. "She's down."

Voldemort dropped Harry into the lake and launched a series of spells at Link. The first two bounced off his shield, but the third, a green killing curse, slammed right into his face. The hero in the green hat fell backward from the force of the blow and landed on his back.

"Link!" Zelda shouted. She lunged at Voldemort, grabbed him by the wrist before he could attack her, and they both disappeared in a blast of blue light.

_My gift to you, Hero of the Force,_ Zelda's voice whispered to Jacen. _Pick up Link's sword and shield. They are the key to defeating Ganondorf._

Three successive cannon blasts echoed out with two seconds between, and Link's body disappeared.

"Woah," Jack said as Eriana approached. "I did not see that coming."

"Nobody did," Jacen said. "Eriana, help Harry get out of the lake. We need to track down Mara."

Eriana's eyes glowed with yellow light and she ignited both of her lightsabers, one red, one yellow. Her voice was deeper than Jacen had ever heard it.

"You will die before your god, _Osiris_!"

!#$%^&*()

I eventually come to consciousness with my arm entangled in my bow and an arrow in my hand. The events leading up to my nap slowly comes back to me. I was going to shoot Voldemort. _Eriana punched me! _

I scramble to my feet and look across the lake. Harry is struggling to swim to shore and Link's sword and shield are lying on the ground not far from where Voldemort was. Back a bit of the way up the hill, Jack is laying face first on the ground and Jacen and Eriana are in a fierce lightsaber battle with two swords each.

I get my bow and arrows in order and sprint toward the battle. Jacen is being driven back by Eriana and he looks exhausted. I notch the arrow, pull it back and let it fly. My aim is true and I catch Eriana's back straight through her heart. She lands face first on the ground and Jacen collapses against a tree breathing heavily. I run toward him but he waves me away.

"Go help Harry," he tells me. "You got her. Jack and I are fine."

Eriana's cannon blast echoes through the woods and her body disappears.

"What about Mara?" I ask.

Jacen points toward the lake.

No, not toward the lake. Toward Harry, as Mara helps him to his feet.

"Katniss," Jacen says breathlessly. He's too far away for me to tell if he's crying or not. "Tell her, and do not mess this up, 'Authorization Bluenek two seven ithor four nine naboo.' Tell her I want to talk to her."

I prep an arrow on my bow and jog toward the lake, ready to draw and fire at a moment's notice. When Mara notices me, she pulls Harry against her and puts a knife to his throat. Harry looks bad. He's shivering and looks very pale. In turn, I point my arrow at her head.

"Authorization Bluenek two seven ithor four nine naboo," I say. "My friend wants to talk to you."

Mara looks at me suspiciously. "How do you know that code?"

"Jacen told me it."

"Is this a trick?"

"He's not that kind of guy. He's a Jedi."

Mara eyes narrow as she looks at me for a moment. "Toss your weapons behind you and come closer. You take care of him and I'll go see your friend."

"Deal," I say. I toss my bow and Zat behind me, but I leave the knife strapped to my leg where it is. Mara releases Harry and walks toward where Jacen and Jack are, leaving a wide berth between us.

"Harry!" I rush forward and catch him before he falls. His skin is pale, almost blue, and he's shaking uncontrollably. I pull his wet coat, shirt, and pants off and put my own dry outerwear on him. I do my best to hold him close to me to share our body heat, but the cold air is starting to chill me as well.

I glance back at Jacen and I see him talking to Mara. At least they're not fighting.

!#$%^&*()

"How do you know one of the authentication codes given to me in secret by Palpatine himself?" Mara asked Jacen. "_Nobody_ knows those codes."

"You married my uncle and it came up over family dinner once," Jacen said. He seemed more intent on helping Jack back to his feet than regarding any concerns about her presence. "I'm from your future. I know who you are, Mara. I know who you become. You're Palpatine's best assassin, but that doesn't mean you're a dark person. You're fiercely loyal and uncompromisingly efficient. We'd be good allies, all things considered. And mark my words, one day, you'll become a great Jedi."

"Me, a Jedi?" Mara scoffed. "If I didn't just watch you walk away from a fight with Darth Vader, I'd think you were insane."

"Who said he isn't?" Jack asked.

"How insane am I now?" Jacen asked. He called Eriana's discarded lightsabers to his hands and clipped hers to his belt. He took the two Sith lightsabers and tossed them to Mara. She caught them deftly, one in each hand, despite her surprise. "The Borg and Ganon are the only threats left. I don't think you'll be able to take them out on your own. Your best chance of survival is to join with us and wait for the opportunity to kill us off afterwards."

Jacen could see Mara considering her options. Her obvious distrust of a Jedi was being weighed against her survival instincts. For the first time Jacen realized that she was younger than him and way more attractive than he ever thought to think of her. The heavy look on her beautiful features saddened him and made him realize how difficult the life decisions she would eventually make would be for her.

"I don't like you, but I'll work with you," Mara finally said. Her green eyes hardened behind the mask of the ruthless assassin despite the conflict Jacen could feel stirring beneath. "So long as our goals align I will consider you as allies."

Jacen held his hand out and Mara shook it.

"Well, aren't we all one happy family with a dying kid," Jack said. "Looks like our Kat is having a problem with four-eyes."

!#$%^&*()

Despite my attempts to warm Harry up, he keeps shivering more and more. Jacen, Mara, and Jack eventually show up and I'm almost in tears.

"He won't stop shivering," I tell them.

"Voldemort did something to the water," Mara recalls. "Some sort of deep freeze effect. He said anyone who would be submerged would get hypothermia within minutes."

"He's definitely in stage two," Jack says. "Can you make some fire?"

"I can do one better," Jacen responds. He pulls out the wand and points it at a small clearing. A white tent appears. Jacen disappears into it for a minute and then tells Jack to bring Harry in.

I let go of Harry and Jack picks him up. They disappear into the tent and it takes me a minute to realize that I'm alone with Mara.

"I take it you're on our side?" I ask.

"For now," Mara says. Her young face has such a grim expression on it. I wonder if she's debating whether to kill me or not, so I walk away to pick up the weapons she forced me to drop earlier.

With my bow and quiver back on my shoulder and my Zat in my holster, I circle around and pick up Link's sword and shield. I never noticed how beautiful they were before. The sword is amazingly balanced and feels both natural and powerful in my hand. I've never had a desire to learn how to fight with a sword, but now I feel like I can take on the world with nothing more than this amazing piece of forged steel. What had Link called it? The Master Sword. The name _feels_ appropriate. I can't help but admire the engravings and design like it is a lost piece of art from a time long lost. I wish Zelda and Link had told me more about it.

"Lightsabers are much easier to carry," Mara says from beside me. I didn't even hear her approach but her voice is surprisingly friendly. Somehow I don't feel threatened by her for a change. "But real swords have weight behind them that can cause more impact damage."

"I've never seen a sword like this before," I admit.

"It's buzzing with energy," Mara says. She holds a hand up to the blade, but doesn't touch it. "I can feel some great power behind it. It responds well to you."

"I've never used a sword before," I say. "Not in a real fight, anyway."

"It's more personal," Mara says. "You see the whites of the person's eyes you're going to kill. With a rifle or a ship you blow up a thing or a target, but when you're toe-to-toe with your enemy you don't have the luxury of thinking of them as an object. You _know_ they're a person."

A chill runs down my spine at her description. Here I thought _I_ knew a lot about killing people for my age. She could probably write a book. Or book series.

"Katniss?" Jacen calls to me. "Come in here before you catch a chill."

Mara and I walk over to Jacen's tent and let ourselves in. There are fires burning in all four corners and it is warmer than a summer day inside. Harry is on a table stripped to his underwear, but his skin is still blue. He's muttering incoherently about Hermione, a prophecy and some other people called Ron and Ginny.

"There's a residual magic that has permeated his body," Jacen tells me. "He was in the water too long and it soaked in too deep. I can't do anything about it. It's actively reducing his body temperature despite the heat in the tent and I can't seem to separate the energy of it from his life energy. It's like a really bad knot. If I pull the one string out the whole thing could unravel or tighten up. Either way, it's messy."

"Bottom line," Jack interrupts. "If he sees tomorrow, he'll be one sorry bastard. We'd do him a favour to end it now."

The implication of Jack's statement hits me like a train.

"You...you want to kill him?" I ask. "You're just giving up on him and you want to eliminate him?"

"Look, I'm not a doctor," Jack says. "Unless you two have got some hidden skills we don't know about, Jacen's given it his best and Harry's mind is too FUBAR to give us any advice on magic. I've seen more people suffer through hypothermia than I care to remember, and I know the next few hours won't be pretty."

"I can try to pull the bad energy signature out," Jacen says. "But it'll take me hours and a lot of concentration. There's a very good chance that I'll disrupt his life essence in the process and..."

"He'll be a vegetable," Jack finishes. "No brain power. Or he won't be able to use half his body. Or his mind will be there and he can't move."

"And that's if we're lucky." Jacen has this hopeless, helpless look on his face. "I could start and he could just wink out of existence immediately."

"One cannot live while the other survives," Harry thrashes on the table his eyes wide and unseeing. "Has to be me. Me. Me. Me. _Tom must die!_"

"I'll do it," Mara says. Her eyes look at Harry with an emotion I never expected to see on her face. Sympathy. Her voice is steady and determined, but bitter. "He won't even feel it. I promise."

I can't help the tears. Harry looks so pathetic shivering and thrashing around. He reminds me of a dog that once lived in District Twelve that would beg for food at the Hub every day. Gale named him Scrappy. One day Scrappy got in a fight with another dog and had his hind legs broken. I don't know what happened to Scrappy for sure, but Gale said he would take care of it. Part of me didn't want to know. And I still don't.

I nod and run out of the tent. I'm such a mess. I'm crying uncontrollably and run right into a tree. The pain barely registers. I just lean against the tree and cry until Jacen comes up beside me and pulls me into a hug.

"I'm sorry," Jacen says.

A cannon blast echoes through the woods and I sob harder. Jacen squeezes me close.

Sometime later my body catches up to my mind and I realize I'm cold and hungry. I've also stopped crying but I don't know if it was my effort or a lack of energy that stopped the tears. I finally let go of Jacen and see Jack and Mara talking together around the fire that Voldemort had been using.

"Are you okay?" Jacen asks.

"For now."

Jacen nods knowingly. "It's always temporary, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry about Eriana," I say. "I…"

"That's my burden to bear." Jacen releases me and looks me in the eye. His face is a solid wall blocking the emotion beneath, but I can see pain through the windows of his eyes. "I'm the one who failed her."

Jacen returns to the tent and comes back with the clothes that I had given Harry. I put them back on and they immediately warm me up, but I still feel chilled by something I know isn't the cold.

"Mara has some intel on the Borg," Jacen says sadly. "But you're not going to like it."

That horrible rock in my stomach decides to plummet for my feet.

"Gale?" I choke out.

He merely nods.

"Bellatrix, some pointy-eared guy, Picard, and Ganondorf are all among them."

"Six against four," I summarize. "I don't like those odds."

Jacen gives me a lopsided smile that warms my heart.

"Neither will the Borg."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the reviews - I had to move things along quick to knock people off. Had to set it up for this chapter...and, yes, pointy eared guy was Tomalak.

* * *

><p>The Borg base was situated at the top of a small hill. On the north side was a thick grove of evergreens so overgrown and intertwined it would be impossible to sneak through it without being heard immediately, especially in the issued outfits. East of the hill was a semi-frozen swamp covered in snow, and to the west and south was a clearing extending half a kilometre that had been forested by the Borg. The hill itself looked smaller than it was a week earlier since the Borg had been mining the metals in the ground.<p>

Their position would be highly defensible with snipers or hidden traps, but the Borg do not believe in such things. Their goal is to assimilate and collect new beings into their collective in their quest for creating a perfect society. However, a perfect society does need to be defended.

At the bottom of the hill the trees had been turned into a three-metre high fence with a single guarded gate. The fence extended to cover all sides, and on the deforested side long spears stuck out to provide protection from a charging enemy. If someone had speared themselves on that defensive perimeter, they could be injected with nanites, healed, and become one with the Borg.

Ganondorf himself sat at the top of the hill, a giant foreboding presence daring anyone to attack. At any given time, at least a couple Borg remained at his side with their wrist sockets plugged into his leg tapping him for power. The Queen almost never left his side, and at least one Borg guarded the gate.

When Jacen arrived at the edge of the clearing, Bellatrix engaged in a staring contest with him for several long moments. Ganondorf sat at the top of his hill with his eyes closed in silent meditation, but no other Borg were in sight.

_It's a trap,_ Jacen thought to himself and pulled the Master Sword and Hylian shield from his back. From what Mara said, after their fight with the Borg she learned that they had energy shields that could automatically block a lightsaber. Her guess was that the colour of the blade gave away the frequency, and the Borg adjusted their shields accordingly. His hope was that a sword or bullet might pass through their energy shields.

_Time to test the theory._

Jacen took several steps toward Bellatrix and something changed. Katniss shouted something and Jack's P-90 started to sing. Jacen tightened his grip on the Master Sword and looked Bellatrix in the eye. He would have to trust his friends to play their parts.

!#$%^*()

At the north end of the Borg's deforested zone I sit and watch Jacen emerge from the woods. Jack is at the far side of the field at the other corner near the swamp. I don't know where Gale, Picard, the Queen or the other guy are, but the crazy witch and GanonBorg are where they're supposed to be.

I'll admit; I'm a little freaked out. Okay, that's a lie. I'm a _lot_ freaked out. The Borg look like zombies from the stories we used to hear from some of the adults at night in the Hub back in District 12, but bizarre mechanical versions. I don't know why _anyone_ would put that much metal and electronic stuff in their bodies.

Our plan was to send Jacen in with the sword after locating everyone, but I can only see two Borg. Where are the others? Should we abort?

A branch cracks behind me. It could be Mara, but I don't want to take the chance. I ease my hand down to the knife on my belt.

I watch Jacen as he draws his sword and shield, but my ears are . He takes a step forward and another branch cracks _very_ close to me.

I spin around and drop to the ground, knife leading the spin. I feel it stick into something and the squish tells me it's a human, but that's the least of my worries.

"Gale!"

!#$%^&*()

The Master Sword cleaved Bellatrix's head off with such ease that Jacen figured something was wrong. Bellatrix's body collapsed to the ground in a twitching death spasm, but Jack and Katniss were in trouble. With a cannon blast, Bellatrix's body disappeared in a flash of now-familiar white light leaving Jacen standing in the middle of a clearing with a sword, shield, and no idea what to do next. Katniss was scrambling around the woods, and Jack was firing round after round at the two Borg plodding toward him with little effect.

"Jacen Solo," an oily voice said from up near Ganondorf. It was both soft enough to sound pleasant, but loud enough to be heard over Jack's P-90 fire. The hairs on the back of Jacen's neck stood on end and he tightened his grip on the sword. "We meet at last. It will be a pleasure adding your biological distinctiveness to our own."

The gate opened and the Borg Queen came into view. She was uglier than Jacen expected, but possessed qualities that would have made her attractive if it were not for the bundle of wires protruding from the back of her head where hair ought to be.

"I can't say it would be much of a pleasure for me," Jacen responded.

"It's all you, kid!" Jack shouted.

Jacen looked toward the older man and saw two Borg – Picard and another – with their arms around Jack. A second later an explosion from one of Harry's grenades encompassed the three of them and there was nothing more than body parts and stray chunks of metal flying in all directions. Three cannon blasts signalled the final sacrifice of Jack O'Neill.

Jacen looked back at the Borg Queen with renewed resolve and the Borg Queen regarded Jacen with a mix of hatred and annoyance.

"Humans," she sneered. "Troublesome to the end."

She ran back into her small compound and up the hill to Ganondorf's side. She placed a hand on his leg and his eyes opened to reveal glowing red orbs. They found Jacen and fixed on the sword and shield.

Ganondorf slowly raised himself to his full height and extended one arm into the air. A massive sword, the one that Jacen had seen in Darth Vader's hands at the beginning of the game, appeared. Lightning shot from the sword into the skies in tune with Ganondorf's deep booming laugh.

"You are not the Hero of Hyrule," Ganondorf said. "Your assimilation is assured. Resistance is futile."

!#$%^&*()

Gale looks like hell. His right eye is replaced by some mechanical junk and his skin is pasty white. There are tubes running from his chest into his head and metal armour all over his body. The worst part is his left eye. It stares at me with no hint of the recognition and caring that has comforted me for years. If there was one thing worse than Peeta being brainwashed and used as a weapon against me, it is this.

My knife is stuck in his arm just as I am stuck on the ground in shock. Gale looks from me to the knife in his arm and reaches over to remove my hand.

_Don't let them touch you!_ Jacen's voice rang in my head. I don't know if he did something to remind me or if my subconscious told me what I needed to hear, but I finally snapped out of my daze. I let go of the knife and pull my knees up to do a back roll onto my feet, but I forgot the quiver and bow was across my back. I end up lying on my side at Gale's feet and force myself to roll painfully twice away from him over the quiver and bow hoping they don't get damaged.

I end up about a metre and a half away from Gale but he is already lumbering toward me with my knife in hand. I scramble to my feet and run. An explosion catches my attention and I glance back long enough to see the residual explosion from the corner Jack was supposed to be covering Jacen from. The three cannon blasts told me more than I needed to know – three more eliminated, and Jacen's on his own against Ganondorf. But worse than that...I can't depend on anyone else to kill my oldest friend.

!#$%^&*()

Jacen's first reaction was that there was no way he could get close to Ganondorf. The giant Borg was twice his height and wielded a sword nearly three metres long. Even with the incredible energy humming through the Master Sword, Jacen still felt like an insect waiting to be swatted.

Ganondorf lumbered towards Jacen and brought his sword above his head in a double-handed grip. It was very clear what his attack would be, and Jacen easily jumped away from the almost comically slow downward slash. What caught him unexpected was the energy shockwave that shattered the ground on the sword's impact and sent him flying.

Jacen pulled himself back to his feet, but Ganondorf was still readying himself for his next attack.

_Slow, but powerful_. Jacen thought. _What would Yoda do?_

Yoda favoured the form of Ataru. A highly acrobatic form meant to overwhelm an opponent with high speed and varying attacks to use one's relative lack of height to one's advantage in quick hit-and-fade attacks. The only problem was that lightsabers are immune to the sheer forces of Ataru that would bend the Master Sword into a pretzel, and the Borg were immune to energy weapons.

Ganon's second slash, a strong horizontal swipe, clanged off the Hylian shield with enough force to make Jacen's teeth ache. Jacen jumped back and put some distance between him and the giant to give him the chance to think. The menacing smile of his opponent momentarily confused the young Jedi. Ganon raised his electrified sword with both hands and plunged the tip into the ground. Jacen felt the energy travel through the ground.

Jacen knew he was, at some point, airborne, but he really did not remember it. The fact that he woke up with his face planted in the ground and his butt in the air told him that he had landed from a decent height.

_How the hell did Link beat this guy?_

Jacen felt someone grab him by the back of his shirt and, before he knew it, he was tumbling through the air again. This time he used the Force to right his tumble and land gracefully on a severed tree stump. He hopped down to give himself steady footing and swung the sword in anticipation.

Ganondorf's laughs echoed through the clearing.

"You are not worthy of the TriForce of Courage," Ganondorf's voice boomed. "Even now I feel it leaving you."

Jacen finally noticed the outline of a golden TriForce glowing on the back of his sword hand and realized Link's secret weapon – the very thing he sensed in Link from the start of this game.

Ganondorf raised his sword again in the same two-handed strike Jacen had witnessed a few moments ago and the sword sparkled with electricity. He plunged the sword into the ground, and, again, Jacen felt the energy travelling towards him.

"How's _this_ for courage?" Jacen shouted. He took his left fist and plunged it into the ground where he sensed the energy coming for him. The energy hit his hand and, rather than letting it hurt him, he turned himself into a capacitor for it. He drew the entire electrical charge from his enemy into his body and looked at the befuddled giant with eyes glowing with green energy.

Jacen stood up and raised the Master Sword to the sky. He barely noticed the TriForce logo glow brilliantly on his hand as he pushed the energy into the ancient blade. Jacen slashed the sword through the air and a shimmering ring of energy launched itself toward Ganondorf. Not even waiting to see the result of the attack, Jacen sprinted toward Ganondorf, up the three metre sword that was pointed at the ground, raised the Master Sword above his head with both arms and plunged the ancient blade deep into the giant's chest just below the collar bone with a battle cry worthy of a Hylean warrior.

Jacen's momentum sent Ganondorf crashing onto his back with the Jedi clinging onto the sword embedded in his chest. Jacen got to his feet, yanked the sword out and brought it down in a two-handed slash aimed at Ganondorf's head. A backhanded strike from the giant sent Jacen through the air once again before the blow could bisect his enemy's head. Using the Force he landed on his feet and skidded to a fighting stance.

Ganondorf pulled himself to his feet slowly and looked at Jacen with new eyes.

"Maybe there is some of the Hero of Hyrule in you, after all," Ganondorf mused. He raised his hand and called forth a ball of vile green energy and threw it at Jacen.

The Master Sword sang with intuition and Jacen swung it into the path of the green ball to reflect the energy back at Ganondorf. Ganondorf used his hand to reflect the ball of energy back at Jacen.

_This is nothing_, Jacen thought. Instead of using the Master Sword again, he reached out and grabbed the ball of energy with his hand. He spun himself around and launched four balls of energy back at Ganondorf. Completely unprepared, the giant deflected two of the balls back at Jacen while the other two staggered him. With two perfectly-timed slashes, the balls of energy returned and hit the still stunned Ganondorf, dropping him to his knees.  
>Jacen jumped high and brought the Master Sword over his head. Using the Force to add momentum, he brought the sword hard down on Ganondorf's right shoulder, severing the arm and extorting a scream of rage. With the shield, Jacen bashed Ganondorf across the right side of his face and knocked him onto his back.<p>

A deep rumble emanated from around Jacen as he stood there catching his breath for a moment and it took him a moment to realize that Ganondorf was laughing. The laugh chilled Jacen as it became more hysterical and menacing. Dark mist began to pour out of Ganondorf's injuries as his body withered into a gaseous state. The persistent laughing forced Jacen to take several steps backward to give him room to think. The mist left the Borg devices behind and coalesced into a massive two-legged porcine figure with a giant tail. Its eyes glowed the same colour of the massive golden blades held in each hand and with a primal roar, Ganon was ready for battle.

Jacen finally realized that this fight had only just begun.

!#$%^&*()

Running helps clear my head. I quickly realize that the Borg are not much of athletes. They can move at a good pace, but they are weighed down by the armour and machines that protect and enhance them. I have one absolute advantage over the Borg – agility. Gale may be able to beat me at a race and out hunt me, but as a Borg he's a drone. I'm glad that I'm the only one with a bow and arrows, but I haven't had a chance to ... What was that?

I'm on my stomach slammed into the ground again. Something had exploded near me that took away a few moments of memory. I assess my body and everything seems to still be attached. A tree explodes above me and I get showered with splinters of wood. I hazard a glance back at Gale and he's pointing what looks like the business end of the rifle he was carrying when he went missing mounted on his arm at me.

Fear inspires me to run as yellow balls of instant death slam into the trees and ground around me as I weave through the trees. I pull the bow off my shoulder and reach for an arrow. I feel one that is attracted to my hand, but I leave that one alone and find another. I grab the right arrow, pull it out, and slip the nock onto the string. Another tree explodes beside me and the shock sends me tumbling to the ground again. I land on my back with the bow and arrow at the ready, but the wind is knocked out of me.

Gale is there before I can get to my feet and is pointing the rifle arm at me. All I can see is a look of pure indifference in his face. I don't know if he doesn't care that I'm pointing an arrow at his head or if he doesn't care that he's pointing a gun at mine, but _why doesn't he care? _Is there anything of the Gale I know and loved in there?

"Gale, don't," I say. I can feel the tears rolling from my eyes to my ears. "Please, it's me!"

His eye changes a bit. Softens. It looks at me. Not with the cold look like I'm a target, but with recognition. And sadness.

"Please," Gale says. His voice is deeper and mechanical. "Katniss, please."

I don't know if it is through exhaustion or conscious thought, but the string slips from my finger and the arrow finds his throat. His head snaps back and he falls backward, twitching to the ground. The cannon sounds and before I can get up, his body already gone in the flash of white light.

I'm bawling like crazy and I can't stop it. I just killed Gale. _Gale!_ And his body is gone. I don't know what's worse, losing his body so quickly or that I fired the arrow that did it. I don't know how I can live with myself after this. I know I've killed before and I had to defend myself...but never anything like this.

!#$%^&*()

Jacen slammed the Master Sword into the ground, tip first, and hung the Hylean shield on the hilt. Another primal roar from Ganon caught him off guard, but his danger sense kept him focused. He slowly turned to his enemy and smiled.

"Big tough pig ready to fight now?" Jacen mocked. "Let's see what you've got."

Jacen ran toward Ganon, dodged the two sword strikes easily, did a front roll between his legs, and came up on the other side with his lightsabers at the ready. He noticed that Ganon leaned heavily on the tail, but could not do anything about it. The massive pig spun around and nearly took his head off with a wild strike, but both lightsabers took the blow. Whatever golden energy the swords were glowing with made them resistant to Jacen's yellow and green lightsabers, so he jumped out of the range of the swords again and considered his next move.

Ganon jumped into the air and slammed his feet against the ground sending a burst of energy outward that knocked Jacen off balance. The large pig stomped toward him with a hungry look in his eyes.

Jacen clipped Eriana's lightsaber onto his belt and held his left hand out. A blast of lightning struck Ganon in the face, momentarily stunning him. Jacen leapt high over Ganon, retook Eriana's lightsaber in hand, and landed beside Ganon's tail. A quick scissoring cut snipped the tail clean off in two places and caused Ganon to roar with a mixture of pain and anger. Jacen jumped clear from Ganon as the pig slashed wildly and only succeeded in embedding his right sword half way into the ground. Jacen threw his lightsaber at Ganon and cut the larger man's right hand off at the wrist.

Ganon stared at the stump of his arm stupidly as if he could not believe that he could possibly be defeated. He raised the stump into the air and roared, and the hand, amazingly, grew back. Even the tail reappeared.

"Nothing beats Power," Ganon said in a deep porcine voice. He slowly reached over and yanked the sword from the ground with his newly formed fist. "Not even Courage."

Ganon threw a sword at Jacen with enough force to knock the Jedi flat onto his back. The sword bounced off both lightsabers and returned to Ganon's hand. The giant beast jumped into the air, brought both swords up, and aimed to drop them on the young Jedi.

!#$%^&*()

I killed Gale. I killed Gale.

I can't stop thinking about it. I killed Gale.

Me. I did it. I can't believe it. But I know I did it. But was it him anymore? He was half machine, bent on killing me. Gale wouldn't kill me. It couldn't have been him.

He was already dead.

And so am I.

I can't let myself think I'm alive anymore. I have no chance of getting out of here. I don't _want_ to survive. Better to die than survive another of these stupid pointless games.

I hate the violence. I hate having to kill. I hate everything about the Hunger Games. I just want to be back in bed crying myself to sleep every night.

Weird how that is, wanting to be back to the familiar terrors that scare me asleep every night.

I killed Gale.

That's worse than all the others combined. No, everything is worse than what it was before. When I think of Gale I also see the faces of Prim, Cinna, Marvel, Cato, Glimmer, Gloss, Nuts and Volts, and Finnick and Rue and I'm on my knees crying again.

The cold of the ground slowly seeps into my knees which alerts my mind that there is a world around me again. I can hear swords clanking and I remember that Jacen is fighting Ganondorf.

His trouble brings my mind to focus. Jacen's my friend. I need to help him. I pull my bow off my shoulder and run toward the sounds of the battle. When I arrive at the clearing I see Jacen on his back and Ganondorf jumping into the air, both swords poised to kill my Jedi friend.

!#$%^&*()

A streak of light hit Ganon on the head, sending him tumbling back to land on his back beside Jacen. Jacen scrambled to his feet and put some distance between him and the giant. At the edge of the clearing, Katniss stood waiting for Ganon to stand with another golden arrow ready. Jacen retreated to her side. What struck him first was the mixture of emotions radiating off her – rage and determination with a lot of underlying grief.

"Zelda's arrows?" Jacen asked.

Katniss nodded.

"They pack quite the punch against him." Ganon reached his feet, and Katniss let the arrow fly directly at his heart. The giant stumbled backwards several steps and a rift in his chest appeared, light from within shining out.

"Hit that spot again," Jacen said. "Keep hitting it. I think I know what we need to do."

"I only have five more arrows," Katniss warned, firing the next arrow. "Whatever you want to do, do it quick."

Jacen put his lightsabers back onto his belt and reached out with the Force. The shield and Master Sword flew across the clearing to his outstretched hands, and Jacen braced himself for his next attack.

Katniss fired another arrow and Jacen sprinted after it. Three seconds after the arrow hit, Jacen's feet impacted Ganon's chest in a double side kick, knocking the brute over. Jacen landed on Ganon's chest, raised the Master Sword high, and drove it directly into the rift over Ganon's heart.

With a flash of light and an echoing cannon blast, Jacen landed on the ground where Ganon had laid.

"We did it," Katniss said, still holding an arrow at the ready. "We got him."

"Yeah," Jacen said. "I'm as surprised as anyone."

"The Queen is left," Katniss said and pointed to the fort. "She should be up there."

A scream and a cannon blast echoed through the woods.

"That was Mara!" Jacen said. He sprinted toward the fort with Katniss on his heels. He ran through the gate and up the hill to find Mara hunched over with Zelda's rapier on the ground beside her. His danger sense flared up immediately, so he stopped a couple metres short of her and held a hand out to stop Katniss.

"Mara?" Jacen asked. "What happened?"

The head of red hair turned to reveal sickly green skin and a mechanical device spread across her cheek.

"Please." Mara convulsed with pain as the nanites worked on taking over her body. "Queen transferred to me. Remember...who I was."

Jacen raised the Master Sword to his forehead in a salute. Mara smiled and bowed her head, and with a quick slash the white light claimed another failed contender.

"It's just us," Katniss said dully. "Again. The last two standing before the prize."

"What prize?" Jacen asked. "Q never said anything about a prize."

"More money and fame than you could ever want," Katniss said. "At least that's what the prize was in Panem."

"Q!" Jacen shouted. "Show yourself!"

The familiar flash of white light appeared, but this time Q's body appeared instead of someone disappearing.

"Shouldn't you two be trying to kill each other?" Q's tone spoke to his boredom. "You were both doing so well."

"What's the point to winning?" Jacen asked. "What do we get out of it?"

"Admission to the Q Continuum, of course," Q said. "Everyone else returns to their time and place in the universe without a single memory, and the winner comes with me to spend eternity as one of the most powerful beings in the universe."

Jacen and Katniss locked stares for a moment and tears started to stream down Katniss's cheeks. She rushed forward and hugged him, sobbing against his chest.

"Well, I certainly don't want to spend eternity with that one if all she does is cry," Q said. "Do away with her and come with me, Jedi. A truly amazing existence awaits you."

!#$%^&*()

I look up into Jacen's sad brown eyes and see that he is as distressed as I am. He told me about his quest to learn new things and become a greater Jedi. He spent years travelling across his galaxy learning some of the most amazing things, things I will never be able to learn. For all the knowledge and abilities he has learned, this sounds like his ultimate dream. I cannot take that from him. That's not a life I want. I want to return to Peeta and District 12, even if it means returning to the crappy existence I've known almost my entire life.

"No," Jacen says to Q. "I can't. Not at the cost of someone else's life. No life is worth that."

"You have to," I say. His confused look makes it harder to bear, but I let go of him and take a step back. I feel the tears coming, welling in my eyes and awaiting their journey down my cheeks. "I can't live with this. I watched friends die in two Hunger Games. I can't live through another. Jacen, you have to kill me. He said himself we go back without any memories. I…I'm not strong enough."

I'm crying again. I can't help it. The hot lines of the tears streaming down my face add to my shameful admission. There were times I wanted to die before, but begging someone I care about to kill me in cold blood, knowing full well it is against everything he believes in...

Jacen tears his eyes away from my pitiful face and looks back at Q. "Can I leave the Q continuum?"

Is he really thinking about it?

"A Q can do whatever he wants," Q replies. "Though I guarantee you, you won't want to."

"What I want," Jacen says, taking my hand in his again. "Is for us both to return to our own places without remembering anything that happened here."

"In order to do that, you'll have to kill your friend here," Q says. "Can the good Jedi really do that?"

"He won't have to," I say. I grab my knife and, before Jacen can stop me, I plunge the cold blade into my heart.

So hard to breathe…Falling over…That _hurts_...Floating feeling…Going black…

"Katniss." Jacen's sad voice bring everything into focus for a second. He's holding the back of my head but everything is going numb. "You didn't have to do that."

I reach for my Mockingjay pin, but my arm feels so heavy. Jacen realizes what I was trying to do. I feel him take the pin off and put it in my hand.

"Keep it," I say. I've never felt so weak before. "Remember…me."

Jacen smiles and a tear drops from his chin onto me. I close my eyes and…

!#$%^&*()

Jacen became aware that he was sitting in his favourite chair staring at a datapad with diagrams on Soresu movements. He jolted out of the chair and tossed the datapad onto it behind him. Within seconds he was in the cockpit of the _Solo Quest_ standing a metre behind Eriana. Using the Force, he probed the back of her neck to search for a Goa'uld symbiote.

"What the hell?" Eriana shouted, practically jumping onto the control panel. "Jacen, what are you doing? You scared the crap out of me."

"Nothing," Jacen said, sitting himself into the co-pilot seat. "I just had a bad dream of sorts. Some alien parasite took over your body and I just wanted to be safe."

"I think the lack of sleep is finally cracking you up," Eriana said, easing herself back into her chair while still eyeing him suspiciously. "You could ask, y'know."

Jacen did not bother to reply. He stared out the window into the mottled blue and black of hyperspace for a few moments until Eriana decided to head to her bunk. Sometime after she left, Jacen reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small pin. He stared at the golden bird clutching an arrow for a full minute before the first tear landed on the bird's wing.

* * *

><p>AN: I hope you enjoyed the Hunger Wars...if you did, please tell your friends. I always welcome new reviews, and I'd love to hear any input you might have on the overall story, or any of my others. Thanks, and may the odds be ever in your favour ;)


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